Power Rangers: Olympian Force
by Spidey-Cents1
Summary: When Hades, lord of the Underworld, attempts to take over the Earth, it takes a new team of Power Rangers to stop him. With new powers and new weapons never used by a ranger team before, these teens use the power of the past to protect the future! Rated T just to be safe
1. Power of the Pantheon

**Note: I do not own Power Rangers or Greek Mythology. The only things I own is the new characters and the interpretation of any mythological beings. **

**Hey, future Spidey-Cents1 here. I've started a Ranger Fanon page for this series. Link is in my profile.**

**Now that that's out of the way, Enjoy!**

**Power Rangers Olympian Force Chapter 1: Power of the Pantheon**

"There's no way he's going to make this," Jason "Jay" Parker said to the girl sitting next to him on the grassy hill, "it's just not possible, right Mera?" Jay was currently looking out at a track field with a 20 foot bar on two poles towering over all who looked at it. His usual red t-shirt was currently covered with a red sweatshirt. He was glad to wear jeans today; this September had been especially cold for the town of Olympia Hills.

The girl, Mera, didn't even look up from her book, "he seems pretty certain that he can," she responded in a Welsh accent, "he's completely wrong, but it will be amusing to spectate." The wind picked up and her red hair blew around behind her, completely untied. She shivered slightly and zipped her grey hoodie up a bit more over her yellow polo shirt.

Jay gave her a playful nudge, "someone's been using that thesaurus that I gave her for her birthday!" he teased. Mera just rolled her eyes and flipped the page in her novel.

The man of the hour was kneeling down lacing his shoes, the cold obviously not affecting him at all, as he wore a blue sleeveless muscle shirt and sweat shorts, with both making his darker skin even more obvious. His blond afro-like hair didn't shift a hair out of place from the latest blast of wind. Another boy in a black shirt and blue, dirty overalls with tools sticking out of every pocket shuffled forward with a large metal staff in his large hands.

"Nate," the boy in the overalls said, "why do you do this to yourself? It's extremely unhealthy and dangerous." His black half-beard bristling a bit as he frowned, obviously worried for his fellow student.

Nate's head shot up as he jumped from the kneeling position into a standing one. He reached out and clasped the staff, yanking it out of the other boy's hands.

"Because I can," he responded simply, "now just watch, Victor!"

With a shout, he charged at the pole and jumped. Victor could barely watch through his fingers as Nate rose into the air. As he reached the peak of the jump, Nate pressed the button on one side of the staff. Suddenly, a blast of flame spewed out of the end and lifted him high enough to clear the bar barely. He landed on his feet and raised the staff above his head, as if the staff was capturing all of the cheers from his classmates.

"Thank you, thank you! I'll be here all week, and I guess you will be too!" he said as the applause grew around him, with a few laughs from his joke. His latest stunt has brought in quite the audience.

His celebration stopped when he heard a small cough behind him. He slowly turned around to see a man in his early 40s glaring at him behind thick glasses. His white muscle shirt and black shorts gave him an air of a man who was used to law and order.

"Oh…hey Mr. Rogers, how are you doing this fine Tuesday morning?" Nate addressed the teacher innocently.

One could almost see the fire raging in the teacher's eyes, "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

Nate glanced down at his wrist, as if checking a watch, "Wow, would you look at the time, I think I have a class to get to. Look, this has been a great talk, but I got places to be and things to learn, you know the drill. See ya!" he said quickly as he turned away and took a run for it.

Mr. Rogers grabbed Nate by the back of his shirt and easily held him as Nate feebly tried to break free. As Nate struggled, the teacher put a slip of paper in his hand.

"I'm sure you can learn quite a lot today… in detention."

* * *

Up on the hill, Jay shook his head in disbelief, "he thought he could get away from Super Soldier Rogers? He must be crazier than I thought."

Mera shook her head for a different reason, "listen here, I know you love comic books, but you can't just give everyone comic book inspired nicknames. It's just… weird."

Jay gave her smirk, "what about your nickname, Mera? Or should I say Merida?"

Mera sent to Jay a glare that could kill any creature in her path. Jay responded in kind. One could almost see the lightning sparking from their eyes at one another.

"Say my full name again, and I'll push you off this hill face-first," Mera growled.

"Insult my interests again and I'll… well, I'll…" Jay dropped his glare and stood looking puzzled for a moment, "what would I do to you? I'm basically your best friend. I think you hurting me would be punishment to yourself. Isn't that right, Merida?"

Mera raised her arms to push him, but before she contacted him, the two started laughing. The people around them gave them a strange look as the early bell rang. Everyone started down the hill as the two continued to laugh.

"Man," a girl said as she came up behind them, "you two have the strangest bonding methods I have ever seen."

"But Valerie," Jay responded, "no two bonds are truly alike, should you truly judge one that you are not a part of?"

"Did you eat too many fortune cookies, or are you trying to sound like some sort of Zen master?" Valerie replied, her black hair with pink streaks swinging through the air as her head shook back and forth.

"I'm going to go with the fortune cookies," Mera agreed as the two girls high fived as the three walked through the door.

"Oh, girls, you wound me," Jay said jokingly as he covered his heart with both hands, "I truly am a Zen master."

The girls looked at each other and nodded; the two of them raised their hands and smacked him upside the head.

Jay was about to turn around and argue when he noticed that they had reached the main intersection, which was created from the four main corridors of the school coming together. Instead he said, "I guess I'll see you girls at lunch at the usual spot, right?"

Without an answer, the girls walked to the left, as Jay walked to the right. Jay could feel a presence behind him. Without a word, Nate passed him on the right, leaving Jay to catch up.

"So, Nate, crazy thing you did today. How did you ever get Victor to create that staff for you? He hasn't made anything for me ever, and I'm basically his only friend."

Nate turned his head to face Jay, "I just told him what I wanted to do, and asked how much I had to pay him. He said that the challenge was better than any money. Personally, I think he just wanted to get out of the apartment, and his mind away from his old man, you know?"

"Is that still a problem?" Jay asked as he reached the Calculus class door, "I mean, the two of them have been arguing since forever, I just assumed it would have solved itself by now."

Nate shrugged, "I guess you'll have to ask him yourself. I try not to pry into other people's problems, while you try too hard to fix it for them. I got to get to class." Nate turned away from Jay and continued up the hallway past the wall of lockers, "I'll see you at the usual spot for lunch. Later."

Jay sighed and walked through the door into Calculus. This was going to be a long, uneventful day.

* * *

It was the middle of third period, and because of the rotating 6 class schedule, the class before lunch. He was sitting in a room filled with students with glazed eyes and the rapid clicking of cell phones being texted on. He was pretty sure he was the only one listening, besides Valerie, who sat two seats to his left in the very back. He turned his head to look at her again.

Her pink tank top that showed her belly and sweat shorts certainly left little to the imagination, while also showing off her flawless olive skin. Her black hair with the pink streaks in it made her stand out in a crowd, and her face… well…

"Mr. Parker?" the teacher asked again, her patience growing thin, "did you hear my question to you?"

Jay's head shot around quickly to face front again, "I'm sorry, Mrs. Woolston" he said, "Could you repeat that question?"

Mrs. Woolston sighed, "I asked the creation of Rome. Can you tell us how Rome was founded?"

Jay smiled, he knew the answer to this. "There were twins, Romulus and Remus, who were the children of one of the Vestal Virgins and Mars, the god of war. This was a horrible sin, as the Vestal Virgins were supposed to remain pure, so the children were put into a basket to hide them as they floated down the Tiber River that runs through Rome, until a she wolf named Lupa found them. She raised them for a little while until a shepherd and his wife found the children, and raised them into adulthood. The brothers decided to build a city, but fought over what to call their new city. Romulus killed Remus, and named the city Rome after himself."

Mrs. Woolston gave him a dry look, "why don't we try to stick to history, instead of mythology? Does anyone else have a better answer? An answer actually based in fact?"

Jay sighed, "If she didn't like my answer," he thought, "she shouldn't have asked for it. Besides, even if someone can't prove myth is true, no one can prove that it's false."

* * *

When one wanted to have lunch in the perfect place, all they had to do was go to the roof of Olympia Hills High School. The roof was the location of the student-ran Athens cafe, and the meeting spot of Jay and his friends.

"Thanks," Jay said to the cashier as he walked away with his tray. The selection hadn't been very good lately, with the cold ruining fruits and vegetables as they grew. Luckily, the roof was covered in a glass, greenhouse-like cover that retracted when the weather was nice, so it was nice and warm inside.

Jay walked up to the table in the back right corner. He had found this table on the first day of school, and people had come one by one to join the table. Mera was a given, as she wanted to sit with her best friend. Valerie came next to sit with _her_ best friend. Nate joined when he realized he had nowhere else to sit, and had become fast friends with the group. Victor was last, as _no one_ wanted to sit with him, and the group welcomed him with open arms. While others came and went, these five were always at the table during this lunch period.

"Man," Jay said as he sat down on Mera's right, "Rogers was not in a good mood today thanks to Nate's antics. Do you have any idea how painful 50 push-ups are after sitting in Calc for an hour?"

Nate shrugged, "not my problem Rogers decides to squash any creativity in this school, he just won't let me be me."

"You being you almost made you crash head first into a metal bar 20 feet in the air," Valarie remarked as she sat down on Mera's left, glaring at Nate across the table,"you may be hard-headed, but even that bar would hurt. You're not as tough as you think you are."

"Seriously," Mera said as she put her book down to eat, "do you even think of the consequences of your actions?"

"Not particularly," Nate said as he took a bite out of his cheeseburger.

"Duly noted," Victor said as he sat down on Nate's left, across from Jay, "if I had known exactly what you were planning to do, I would have never built that staff for you."

"Well," Nate said as he took another bite, "you did, so… nothing you can do about it now."

"I know better for next time," Victor said.

"Who wants to think ahead?" Nate said with his mouth full, as he stuffed the rest of the cheeseburger into his mouth, "don't worry about the past or future, the present is all that really matters...ow!"

Mera gave a grin as Nate held his shin. "They say those who forget history are doomed to repeat it, case in point, I kicked you in the exact same spot yesterday, and you still have not figured it out."

Everyone, except Nate, started to laugh. Nate, however, look around strangely.

"Do you guys feel something… weird? Like someone is watching you?" Nate asked as he glanced around quickly.

"Now you're just trying to change the subject," Valerie said, "we're your friends, and we're worried about your behavior." Jay and Victor nodded in agreement, while Mera frowned and pursed her lips.

"I am not really worried about his behavior, if he wants to make stupid decisions, that's his fault, not mine."

Nate suddenly pointed behind Jay, Valerie and Mera, "look! Over there! Behind the cafe!"

A dark shadow lurked behind the cafe building, before dashing away faster than the teens could follow. When they looked back, a bright white envelope was in the middle of the table.

"OK," Jay said, "that was definitely not there before."

There was a moment of silence. Someone could have cut the tension with a knife.

"Is everyone just going to sit there, or is someone going to open it?" Valarie asked impatiently.

With no one else making a move towards it, Jay stretched his arm out and grabbed the letter. He ripped it open as the rest of the group stared at him.

"This isn't uncomfortable at all," Jay said under his breath as he noticed all the stares from his friends.

"Well, what does it say?" Mera asked.

"'Dear Jason, Merrida, Victor, Valerie and Nathaniel, I have been watching you for a while, and I believe you are perfect for my new program. Meet me in library Study Room O after school at 2:40. Please don't be late, sincerely, H.'" Jay read.

Nate snorted, "Merrida? Your name is Merrida?"

"Sure beats Nathaniel," Merida countered.

Valarie put her hands between the two of them. "You two are acting like children," she said, "can we get back to the task at hand?"

"Yeah," Victor agreed, "What _are_ we going to do about this letter? Do we go to the Study Room, or should we report this?"

Jay stood up and slammed his hands on the table, "I vote that we go and figure this out. This is just too weird to not get answers. Who's with me?"

One by one, the teens raised their hands. Mera was first, followed by Victor, then Valerie, and then, after a little persuading, Nate.

"You guys do realize I have detention, right?" Nate asked the group, "they're not just going to let me leave."

"I can get you out of it," Jay said confidently, "if I say I'm going to tutor you in the library, they should be willing to let you go. Plus, we're already really going to the library anyway."

Victor let out a sigh, "I guess I have to give up my work time after school. I had a new project and everything."

"Maybe next time, big guy," Jay said, "the letter asked for all of us, so I assume it's best to go as a group."

"I guess I'm going to be skipping dance practice today," Valerie said as she texted a message on her phone, "Coach is going to be so disappointed."

"And I have to give up Math Club today," Mera said as she sent a message on _her_ phone. She looked up to see 4 pairs of eyes giving her a strange look.

"...Math Club?" Nate snorted, "I'm skipping Detention, Victor's having a day off from the metal working room, Valerie is skipping her dance team, and you're worried about **Math Club?**"

"Oh no…" Jay whispered to himself, "here come the fireworks."

Mera's eyes sent a piercing stare at Nate, while her hands balled into fists. The fire of her anger was almost visible, as if it was creating an aura around her.

"Do you have a problem with me being in Math Club?" she growled as Nate cowered a bit, before regaining his composure and gaining the same fiery aura.

"Do you have a problem with me having a problem with Math Club?" he snarled back.

"Is that really the best he could come up with?" Valerie whispered to Victor as Jay stood between the two verbally-battling teenagers. Victor replied with a shrug.

"Alright, how about we have a time-out for a minute. You two should separate and calm down, in fact, the bells about to ring, so how about you go to class?" he said as the self-appointed peacemaker.

The two combatants glared at each other as they grabbed their bags and stomped down the stairs.

'Good thing those classes are on the opposite sides of the school,' Jay thought, 'or this never would have worked.'

* * *

The final bell rang as the students, who were already standing by the door, despite the teacher's wishes, pushed each other out of the way as everyone tried to leave at once, except Jay. It just so happened that this classroom was also the detention room for the week. He stepped up to the teacher as the rest of the students finally forced their way through.

"They do know that door is supposed to fit one student at the time, right?" Jay asked the teacher.

"Who knows what teenagers think these days," Mr. Ford said as he grabbed the sign-out sheet from the desk in front of him, and replaced it with the detention attendance sheet. He glanced down at it and looked up at Jay again.

"You don't appear to be on my list, Mr. Parker," Mr. Ford said as he sat down in his chair, "so why are you here?"

"I decided that I need to help my fellow student today," Jay responded, "so can I borrow Nate today? I was going to take him to the library, I can sign us in when we get there."

Mr. Ford looked up from his phone slightly, "yeah, sure, do whatever you want."

As Nate walked in, Jay motioned for him to walk out. "Alright, thanks."

The two turned the corner as they passed the gym, then the auditorium, until they reached the library. They walked in to see that Victor, Valerie and Mera had beat them there, and were sitting in the bean bag chairs next to the non-fiction area. Valerie was texting on her phone, while Mera was back into her novel, ignoring the sound of Victor messing with his little metal bits and pieces he kept in his overall pockets.

Jay walked towards the librarian's desk and signed it. Every since the problems the school had to face last year with student's...poor decisions, the students had to sign in _everywhere_. He turned away and motioned for everyone to follow him to the right wall, which had study rooms.

"L...M...N...O!" Jay said as he read the letters on the plaques next to each door. "Who knew we had enough Study Rooms to reach O, huh?" Jay asked the group. The response was silence. "Everyone don't laugh at once," he muttered as he pulled open the door, holding it for everyone before entering himself.

"Looks normal enough to me," Nate said as he crossed his arms.

"Why isn't there somebody here?" Valerie asked as she scanned the room, "I assumed they would meet us here."

Victor glanced down at his homemade watch, "It should be 2:40 in 3...2...1…"

The appearance of the room began to change as the walls began to slide down, revealing a much bigger room around the small box. However, the larger room was not the library, instead it was like a temple. Marble pillars lined the walls and surrounded the former study room to form a square in the middle of the room, holding up the roof, which had carvings on it of animals and humanoid beings on it.

"Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore," Jay remarked as he stepped out of the box, with the others following. With a click, the "room" from which they came flipped over from carpet into the same material as the rest of the room.

"We're trapped!" Valerie yelled out.

"Relax," Victor said, "there has to be a way to either reverse everything back, or another way out."

"Good thinking, Victor," Jay said as he flipped back to serious mode, "everyone look for that way out."

Everyone nodded and headed in a different direction.

Nate walked to the right and found himself in front of a display of many types of weapons.

"Wicked," he said as he walked around the area, checking out each weapon instead of looking for the way out.

Victor walked straight ahead until he found a large mosaic on the wall.

"Aren't mosaics supposed to be on the floor?" he asked as he stepped towards it. As soon as he was within ten feet of it, the mosaic stones began to rotate into a blue screen with many tan folders on it.

"This seems more high tech than the rest of the place," Victor muttered as he sat down at the "computer" and began to click buttons with symbols he had never seen before.

Mera and Jay walked together towards the back wall. Mera was digging in her bag for a minute before pulling out a book titled "Architecture of the Ancient World".

"Of course you have that book," Jay remarked, "you always seem to have the right book for every situation."

"Shut up a minute," Mera said as she held up a finger. "Ah, here it is: the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian pillars were originally Greek, then adopted by Roman for use in their temples. So this must be Greek or Roman ruins!"

"Looks too new to be ruins," Jay said, "if they were, wouldn't the pillars not be that white, they would be dirty with age. These pillars look brand new."

"Well, thanks for completely ruining my theory," Mera said sarcastically as she stopped walking.

"No problem, what are friends for…woah!" Jay exclaimed as the walls in front of them slid up to reveal five separate storage areas. In each one was a set of colorful armor. In the center was a red set of armor with a Lightning Bolt- shaped visor, with the bolt at a 45 degree angle, and surrounded in gold trim. On the chest/body armor was an elongated omega symbol in the same gold as the one surrounding the visor, as well as a gold belt. The arms were red too, until it reached the wrists, which each had a gold bracelet with an indentation, and then a white glove. The legs were the same red as the rest, except for the golden knee pads and white boots.

Each of the other armors were the same, except for the visors. The sea-blue armor on the red armor's left had a Trident-shaped visor. The black one on the right of the red armor has a hammer-shaped visor that looked like a "T". The yellow and pink ones had little skirt attachments, and a spear and heart-shaped visor respectively.

"You know what these look like right?" Jay said as he nudged Mera.

"Oh no," Mera said as she covered her face with her hands, "they look like the…"

"POWER RANGERS!" Jay yelled as he began to run around in a circle freaking out, "I knew they were real!"

"Not again…" Mera muttered, "I thought we were done with this." She shifted back to her normal volume, "it's not that I doubted their existence, it's that I doubted we would ever encounter one."

Valerie walked over from her search, having just found two large doors held together by some invisible force.

"Why is Jay running around like a chicken who lost his head?" she whispered to Mera as Jay continued his celebration.

"You haven't seen his collection, have you?" Mera responded. When Valerie shook her head, Mera said, "I will have to have him show it to you one time. Long story short, he is obsessed with the Power Rangers."

"Hey, guys?" Victor said in a louder voice than he had ever used in school before, "you may want to look at this." He gestured to the mosaic-screen as it showed photos of each one of the group doing everyday activities.

Nate walked up behind the other four, "so we have a stalker? ALL five of us have the same stalker?"

"Just what kind of 'program' is this?" Valerie asked, "because this just seems too...freaky to be allowed by the school."

"I don't know, have you seen the school's meatloaf?" Jay asked before Mera smacked him. "Ow!" he shouted in pain, "that joke wasn't _that_ bad."

"Alright, that's it. I'm done here. This was a waste of my time, it's just a big room full of weird junk. I'm actually missing detention, so I'll just go now…" Nate said as he turned around to try to find the way to leave again, before he stopped and stared above him.

"Why did you trail off… uh, guys?" Valerie said as she turned around and looked up too, "why don't you turn around for a moment?"

Victor stood up from the chair as he joined the rest of the group as they all turned around and gaped.

Floating in front of them was a man about 30 years old, with light brown hair about down to his ear. He had a silver cap with white wings on it that matched the wings on his sandals. He wore a white tunic that clashed against the golden staff he had in his hand, which had two green snakes winding around it. His eyes opened to reveal a normal brown color.

"You sure know how to keep a god waiting, you think being asleep for almost 2000 years would make waiting four hours easier, but it does not," the humanoid said as he descended to ground level, "My name is Hermes, but I'm pretty sure the staff, sandals and caduceus gave it away."

"Caduce-what?" Victor whispered to Mera.

"It's the name of my staff," Hermes said, "no need to whisper. As the Messenger God, I can hear just about anything. Any other questions?"

Nate cleared his throat before speaking. "Yeah, how about where the video cameras are?" he said as he looked up, "alright, you got us good. Great prank, but can we just end this and go home?"

Hermes smiled. "Oh, Nathaniel…you just don't believe anything you can't prove, do you? Is that why you do stupid stunts? Because you don't want to think about the future? You're worried that…"

Nate put up his hands, "alright, alright. I can believe that you're a god if you can believe in respecting privacy."

"Sorry," Hermes said, "I'm just so used to the Greeks and Romans. They didn't really keep secrets from family, biological or otherwise."

"Family? I barely know these guys! They aren't my 'family' by a long shot!"

Hermes nodded as he whispered, "that's going to have to change quickly in order for them to win the upcoming battles…"

Jay stepped up, "so, maybe you could explain the letter, the pictures, the _armor_?," he said with a grin on the armor part of his question.

"Of course," Hermes said as he rose into the air and floated above the teens in order to sit in the chair Victor was once in.

"Let me start at the beginning," he said as the screen changed into a black sky and green earth. "It began with Uranus and Gaia, the sky and the earth. They created many creatures like the Cyclops and Hundred-Handed Ones, but the Titans were their favorite children. These Titans were led by Cronus, who eventually betrayed Uranus and took control of everything for himself and his siblings."

The screen changed to a large man eating a swaddled baby. Valerie grimaced the most out of all of the teens.

"When Cronus had children, he feared to be overthrown himself, so he ate his three daughters and two sons as they were born. Only Zeus, the sixth child, escaped. Zeus grew up and rescued his siblings from Cronus' stomach. The five others had grown up in Cronus' stomach, and were ready for war."

The screen changed again, this time into the armor found on the back wall, but on giant beings wielding many weapons

"They were joined by other like-minded gods, and became a group known as Olympians, in which they called upon mighty battle armor forged by the Cyclops to become powerful warriors. You would probably today call them one of the first teams of Power Rangers."

"When the Olympians fought the Titans for control of Mt. Olympus, and the world, they defeated them and imprisoned them in the darkest depths of the underworld with Cronus thrown into Tartarus, the worst place anyone alive, or dead, could go. When it came time for Zeus and his two brothers, Hades and Poseidon, to decide which god got which domain, Zeus won, and chose the sky and the heavens, while Poseidon got the seas. Because no one was allowed to choose the earth, or the developing species that lived upon it, Hades could only choose the Underworld."

The screen changed into a pale faced man with flames on his head and long black robes sitting on a bone throne with a skull on the top.

"Hades was jealous of the better fortune of his brothers, because while their domains could grow and thrive and support life, Hades was left with an ever expanding world of death. He tried many times to escape, creating many natural disasters whenever he did, but the Olympians were always there to stop him. So he bided his time, raising an army while he did, and waited for the gods to vanish. And with the rise of other religions and beliefs, the Olympians lost their power, until they became nothing more but memories of an ancient past. Now Hades has rose again, and because there is no Olympians left, I have to turn to mortals for help."

The screen turned black again as he finished.

"And we're those mortals?" Mera asked skeptically.

Hermes nodded, "yes, I want you to become the newest Power Rangers."

He tapped a few of the runes on the keyboard and the mosaic screen changed into a pink background with pictures of Valerie doing good deeds.

"Valerie, you have passion for everyone and everything. You never turn down a person in need, and help them in any way you can. You will be the Pink Ranger."

The screen changed to a blue background and pictures of Nate's stunts, "Nathaniel, you throw yourself wholeheartedly into whatever goal you are trying to achieve, even at personal risk to yourself. You will become the Blue Ranger."

The screen changed to black, and showed pictures of Victor building things and then giving them to people.

"Victor, even though people take advantage of your skills, you still use them to help people who truly need it. With your ingenuity and abilities, you will be the perfect Black Ranger."

The screen changed, this time into yellow, with pictures of Mera studying and tutoring other students.

"Merida, you use your knowledge to teach others, and improve them as students and people. You shall have the power of the Yellow Ranger."

The screen turned to red, with pictures of Jay stopping fights and solving other problems.

"And Jason, you become the peacemaker in any argument, and always try to solve other people's problems. With these qualities and your great leadership, you will lead the team as the Red Ranger."

Jay stood there staring at the god. "I can't be a leader," he said, "leaders need to be confident and ready for anything. I'm neither of those things."

Hermes nodded, "You are right about that, but the truest heroes are the ones who are afraid, but still fight to do the right thing anyway. I believe that you have the ability to overcome great fear, and I also believe you will find a way to bring this team together."

Jay looked around, "You're right, Valerie would never want to lead, Victor is too shy to say something, even if he did, and Mera and Nate would argue over the leadership for a while."

Hermes nodded again, "you are the one who brought this group of friends together, and you will be the one to change them into the warriors we need now.

Jay contemplated this for a minute before making his choice.

"I'm in."

He put his hand out in the center of the group.

"If people really need us, I'll help," Victor said as he put his hand on top of Jay's.

"I want to help people, if this gives me the chance, I'm in," Valerie said as she put her hand on top of the other two.

"Let's face it, you guys would be lost without me," Mera said as she joined the circle.

They stood there a minute before looking at Nate.

"Come on, Nate," Jay said, "we need you."

Nate sighed as he put his hand in. "Fine," he said, "but just because I want to, not because some god told me to."

"Looks like we're all in, Hermes," Jay said, "what do we do next?"

Hermes flew over to a golden box and grabbed it before returning to the teens.

"These Olympian crystals contain what's left of the essence of the Olympians. They are what will allow you to morph into the Olympian Force Power Rangers."

Lying in the box were five sets of two golden metal bracelets. In the center of each bracelet was a certain colored stone. The colors of these stones were red, blue, black, yellow and pink respectively.

Each of the teens took a pair of bracelets that matched the color Hermes had told them they would be. Jay grabbed red, Nate received blue, Valerie obtained pink, Mera acquired yellow, and Victor was given black.

"In order to transform, you must cross the bands over your chest and yell the color you are followed by 'Olympian Power.' Now, we should train before..."

An alarm sounded as the mosaic stones flipped and twisted around again to reveal skeletons rising from the ground in the city.

"Training will have to wait,"Hermes said as he floated down into the chair again, "guess you'll have to learn on the job, I'll be in contact with you the entire time. Hephaestus invented phones and radio contact before mortals could even imagine it."

Nate raised his hand, "this is going to sound like a stupid question, but how are we going to get there?"

Hermes snapped his fingers and the double doors to the left of the computer slid open.

"These doors were created by Janus, the god of doorways. They'll take you anywhere you want to go."

Jay nodded as he gestured for the rest of the new rangers to follow him, "and here we go!"

Jay found himself in the town square, with a few new additions to the decorations. Skeletons with short swords were chasing civilians away as they destroyed everything in their path.

"Hey!" Jay yelled as the rest of the civilians fled from the square, "why don't you fight someone who has a chance?"

The skeletons turned around and pointed their swords at the teens.

"Uh...anyone have any ideas?" Valerie said as she looked around nervously at all of the swords pointing at her.

"Just one," Jay said, "It's Morphing Time!"

Each of the teens crossed their arms over their chests as the gems glowed.

"Pink Olympian Power!"

"Yellow Olympian Power!"

"Black Olympian Power!"

"Blue Olympian Power!"

"Red Olympian Power!"

There was a flash of multi-colored lights that would have caused the skeletons to cover their eyes if they had any.

Standing in the teens' place were the Olympian Force Power Rangers.

They then began their role call:

"Aphrodite, goddess of love! Pink Olympian Ranger!"

"Athena, goddess of wisdom! Yellow Olympian Ranger!"

"Hephaestus, god of the forge! Black Olympian Ranger!"

"Poseidon, god of the sea! Blue Olympian Ranger!"

"Zeus, god of lightning! Red Olympian Ranger!"

"Using the powers of the past to protect the future! Power Rangers Olympian Force!"

If the skeletons were impressed, they didn't show it. Instead of cowering in fear or being in awe, they just charged the rangers.

"Alright, guys" Jay said, "we're here to save the city, so let's take them down!" He shifted into a fighting stance.

"Right!" the other teens agreed as they shifted into their unique fighting stances. With a cry, they charged at the advancing skeletons.

Nate was the fastest, so he was the first to meet the warriors head on. He gave a rapid jab to one of the skeleton's heads, before roundhouse kicking it straight off.

"This is going to be easy," Nate bragged as he turned around to face another warrior. To his surprise, he was suddenly grabbed from behind by the warrior he had already defeated.

"Hey! What gives?" he yelled as he struggled to break free, "I already defeated this guy! Why is he still fighting?"

Hermes' voice came in over the radio, "These are the Spartoi, they can only be defeated if their heads are blocked from returning to their bodies, otherwise they'll just regenerate forever."

Nate groaned, "Now you tell me."

"Hang on, Nate!" Valerie yelled as she did a flying kick over Nate and knocked the head off the Spartoi again, before punting it into a trash can.

"And it's in!" Jay yelled as he saw his team's progress.

However, another Spartoi just went over to the trash can and fished his buddy's head out before throwing it to the headless one, who put his removed cranium back in place.

"Alright," Victor said, "this isn't working."

"I agree," Mera confirmed, "our efforts appear to be futile."

Hermes' voice sounded on the radio again, "don't worry, rangers. Help is on the way."

The gems on the rangers' bands began to glow before weapons materialized out of them.

Jay's created a sword with a lightning bolt design: the blade was a zig-zag shape and the hilt was red, which clashed with the golden blade.

Victor received a large sledge hammer with a black neck and a silver head. It took two hands for him to hold it aloft.

Valerie gained a pink bow with white accents. As she pulled back the string, a pink energy arrow was created.

Nate got a large trident with a blue body and three bronze points on the head.

Mera lifted up the spear she was given. The body was yellow and the point was a dark metallic silver.

"Lightning Sword!"

"Blacksmith Hammer!"

"Love Bow!"

"Ocean Trident!"

"Battle Spear!"

"These weapons should be able to destroy those Spartoi," Hermes said over the radio, "best of luck, and may the power protect you."

"Alright Let's try this again!" Jay yelled as the rangers jumped back into the group of Spartoi.

* * *

"No!" Hades yelled as the Red Ranger in his blue magic flame-screen sliced a Spartoi head in half, "I thought the Olympians were gone! With both them and other ranger teams out of action, I would have conquered the Earth quickly! I have to deal with them quickly, before they learn of all of their powers and become too dangerous."

"My lord Hades," the woman with blonde hair and a white dress sitting next to him on a slightly smaller, but otherwise identical throne said, "don't you think maybe this is a sign you should stop your assault before it truly begins?"

"Silence!" Hades said as he put up a hand, "your outbursts about peace annoy me, Persephone."

He dipped his hand into a blue-flamed torch and drew a fireball from it. He threw it at the ground before his throne.

"If the Spartoi can't win the world for me, I just need to give them a little support."

A cyclops rose from the blue flame. He has dark tan skin and a white horn. The only clothes he wore were a simple loincloth covering his… nether regions. He wielded a club in his left hand.

"It's time to smash these rangers!" it shouted as it flexed its muscles and slammed it's club on the ground.

Hades grabbed another ball of flame.

"Now, go! Go and destroy these… teenagers!"

The flameball struck the ground and created a ring around the Cyclops before becoming a portal that sent the monster to the surface.

* * *

"Alley-oop!" Nate yelled as he removed a head from a Spartoi and threw it up in the air before skewering it on the three points of his trident.

"Here, let me point you in the right direction," Mera said as she stabbed the point of her spear into another Spartoi head, before flinging it into another Spartoi, incapacitating two enemies with one move.

"Sorry," Valarie said as she pulled back the string of her bow to create three glowing energy arrows, "but love hurts!"

She released the string to cause the arrows to go clean through the Spartoi heads, leaving gaping holes in their foreheads.

Victor swung his hammer down onto a Spartoi.

"Man," he remarked, "I'm really crushing it."

"Sorry, it's been a slice," Jay said as he bisected a Spartoi down the middle, "but I think it's time for you to go home!"

With all of the Spartoi defeated, the teens ran back into a group. They began to celebrate their victory before a large circle of blue flame appeared in front of them. Out rose the Cyclops as he slammed his club into the ground in an act of intimidation.

"Rangers! My name is Polyphemus, and I will be your doom!"

Hermes gasped as Polyphemus appeared. 'The rangers are too inexperienced' he thought, 'they aren't ready for a threat like a Cyclops.'

Much to his dismay, Nate did not agree with his evaluation of the situation.

"Alright, hornhead!" Nate yelled as he leaped into the air with his trident raised points up, "you're screwed now!"

Polyphemus just backhanded him out of the air and into the nearest bus stop glass ad, which he shattered with the force he was flying at.

"Well, that did not work," Mera said smugly as she and the other teens helped their teammate to his feet, "any other great plans?"

"Oh, shut up!" Nate retorted, "like you had any better plan?"

"That's it!" Jay shouted as he shifted back into his serious mode again, "would the two of you stop fighting long enough for us to defeat this monster?"

Mera and Nate looked at Jay before looking at each other, then back at Jay.

"Fine," Mera said as Nate nodded in agreement, "I guess we can put aside our differences long enough to combat the current menace."

"What she said," Nate agreed, "but with less complicated words."

"Now that that's out of the way, I have a plan," Jay said as he gathered the team in a huddle. Polyphemus started to charge at them as they finally broke apart.

"Time to combine weapons!" Jay shouted as all of the teens threw their weapons into the air.

Nate's trident bent 90 degrees as the "teeth" spread out and bent to form a handle. Victor's hammer landed on the ground handle side up as the love bow clicked onto the former trident, which then clicked onto the hammer handle. Mera's spear was bent around the bowstring to make it thicker as the behemoth of a weapon hit the concrete.

"Olympian Crossbow!" the rangers shouted.

The girls were knelt down to support the firing end, while Victor and Nate pulled back the string to allow Jay to place his sword into it.

"...Uh oh," the monster muttered as he stood his ground, stuck in place by fear.

"Olympic Lightning Storm!" Jay yelled as he infused the sword with his power and pulled the trigger, "fire!"

The sword came rocketing out the bow and flew through the air. Suddenly, lightning struck it, turning a piece of metal into the world's sharpest stun baton.

Polyphemus screamed in agony as he exploded from the electric impact.

"That won't haunt my nightmares forever," Valarie said as she shook her head, as if to shake out the noise.

"I hear that!" Jay said as the crossbow teleported back to who-knows-where.

* * *

Back at base, Hermes was congratulating the team on their first victory.

"Good job! You save numerous people and buildings from destruction!" he said until his face turned sour, "but it took far too long. All of you need training immediately!"

The mosaic stones turned a sickly green and black as they turned to form Hades' face.

"You teens must be proud of yourselves, but don't think I'll give up that easily! You certainly haven't heard the last of me!" he shouted as the screen slowly changed back to normal.

Hermes looked at the blank stones confused, "He shouldn't have been able to do that, and if he could, why only deliver that short message? Something must have blocked him... " he said as he trailed off while thinking it over.

"So what do we do now?" Nate said.

"It's almost 6:00," Mera noticed, "my parents will have a fit if I don't show up home soon."

"Training will begin at the crack of dawn tomorrow!" Hermes said as he flew around the weapons area.

"What about school? That starts at the crack of dawn," Jay remarked.

"Training will start...after school tomorrow!" Hermes declared as the teens turned away to head through the doors.

"This battle between good and evil could escalate quickly," Hermes said as he flew down to a computer as soon as the teens were gone, "time to start Project: Gemini, just in case…" he ended mysteriously.

**Sorry this was so long, but I wanted to establish everyone, and have a ranger fight! We'll see how long future chapters are.**

**Until next time, may the power protect you all.**


	2. No Eye in Team

**I do not own Power Rangers. Currently it is owned by Hasbro. I only own my OCs.**

**Hey Ranger fans! Just wanted to give a shout-out to my first review from JTWAS1994. If you have any questions and/or cretiques, please feel free write a review. Until then, it's time for Episode 2...**

**Power Rangers Olympian Force Chapter 2: No "Eye" in Team**

Jay was very excited. His whole world had changed yesterday when Power Rangers were confirmed to indeed exist, and that his destiny was to be the Olympian Force Red Ranger. He hadn't gotten any sleep the night before, and he hardly could pay attention to his classes. Math just didn't feel as important as saving the world. His excitement hadn't faltered by the time lunch came around.

"Are you just going to stand there with a stupid look on your face or are you going to sit down and stay a while?" Nate asked impatiently behind him, "because you're kind of in my way."

"Oh, sorry!" Jay said as he finally sat down, "I've just been thinking about our new 'club'."

Mera sat down, "trust me, we've noticed," she said, "he said the square root of 16 was Mississippi."

Nate snorted some milk out of his nose as he started laughing hysterically.

"Either there was a really funny joke being told, or someone doing something stupid," Valerie said as she sat down in her usual seat.

When Nate explained, she started to laugh too.

"Come on, guys!" Jay said, "don't you think you're overreacting just a bit?"

Mera grinned, "oh the stories I could tell about you…" she said mischievously.

"Don't you start," Jay said to Victor as he sat down, gaining a confused look in response.

* * *

Jay went into the library after school and headed to the back. When he came up to room O, he opened the door and went inside. As soon as he closed the door, the walls came down to reveal the rest of the Temple was currently occupied by four teenagers and one god.

"I'm the most excited, but I got here last?" he asked as he put his bag down. When no one answered his question, he decided to ask a new one.

"So, when does training start?" he asked.

"Right now," Hermes responded as he pressed a few Greek letters on the mosaic's keyboard. In response, the weapon cases on the one end of the room spread apart as the floor rotated around to reveal a large sparring mat.

"So, who wants to be first?"

Nate's hand shot up like a rocket, "the main reason I showed up so quickly was so I could go first."

He walked over to a weapon rack and grabbed a trident that was laid on it.

"Who or what am I fighting?" he asked in earnest.

Hermes came floating down with a wooden dummy, "how about you learning to use it before we make somebody fight you. Same with everyone else, grab a weapon, you may know how to wield the weapons, but you don't know how to use them."

"Then why did you ask?" Nate muttered as the rest of the rangers grabbed their weapons.

As Hermes floated around from person to person, they practiced with their assigned weapon.

"Victor, use the weight of your hammer to your advantage and use your strength sparingly, you need to be able to hit many enemies with as few strikes as possible so you don't overuse energy."

He left Victor hitting several dummies with his hammer to visit Valerie with her bow and many wooden targets. "Valerie, the true power of the bow is the range you can strike at without losing your weapon, like you would a spear or trident. The more range you can strike from, the less of a chance of a counter-attack there is."

He went over to Mera, "Merrida, the spear is a weapon made to do many strikes in little time. The point, as obvious as it may be, is the part you want to be hitting your enemies with, but the dull end can still be used in the other direction as a blunt object."

He then joined Nate in his training, "Nathaniel, you should follow the same advice I gave Merrida, but you must also be aware of how the trident is angled. If angled correctly, you will be able to hit more enemies at once than most of the others."

Finally, he gave Jay a few pointers, "Jason, the sword is considered by many to be the simplest to wield, but it is also the hardest to master. It grants you more mobility than any other ranger, but you must be aware of the distance between you and the target, as well as the angle you are slicing at."

After a few more minutes of training, he signaled for a quick break. As the teens got bottles of water, Hermes removed the broken dummies and replaced them with metallic figures.

"These are the Automatons," he said, "because they can actually move and fight, they should give you the challenge you need for teamwork drills. First, let's see how you all work in one large group before we try groups of two or three."

The Automatons eyes flashed red as they came to life and drew their swords. The teens grabbed their weapons and walked up to meet them. Nate was the first to strike, stabbing an Automaton in the head with all three points of his trident. He was about to rip the head off when an arrow came and hit him in the arm. While it didn't pierce him, Nate still felt some pain from the arrow.

"Sorry!" Valerie yelled as she rolled out of the way of a sword strike, only to bump into Mera. Because of the disruption of her concentration, Mera dropped her spear as an Automaton smacked her with the side of it's blade, sending her flying into Victor, who was swinging his hammer at the time. Because Victor had been swinging his hammer at the time, a force that normally wouldn't affect him caused him to be off balance, so he let go of the hammer. The hammer went flying passed an Automaton, and struck Jay in the back of the head. With a cry, he fell to the floor, unconscious.

"Automatons! Shut down immediately!" Hermes shouted as he flew over to the prone form of the red ranger. The other teens came over as Hermes landed and bent down on one knee. With a mutter of a few words, his hand had a white aura around it for a moment before fading.

With a shout, Jay sat up from the floor. As the other teens gathered even closer around him, Jay started to rub the back of his head.

"Did someone get the number on that truck?" he joked before grimacing a little from touching the tender spot.

"I am so sorry!" Victor said, "I just let go and…"

"And smacked me in the head. It's fine. Accidents happen," Jay replied as he got up off the floor before stumbling forward. He was luckily caught by Mera and Nate, one grabbing a shoulder.

Valerie came forward and felt the back of Jay's head, "your head should be split open right now, but I only feel a bruise." She realized she had been stroking Jay's hair before she backed away with a mad blush on her face.

"Is it more awkward if I say how awkward that was to watch?" Nate asked.

"Yes!" the other four teens said together.

Hermes cleared his throat before coming forward. "Perhaps there is a way to build teamwork without weapons. Everyone, come with me!"

As Hermes walked towards the opening doors, his toga changed into a white polo and shorts. The winged hat on his head changed into a baseball cap for the Olympia Hills Warriors. His shoes had the wings retract and become a design on the sneakers that now appeared. A parcel bag appeared over his right shoulder.

The teens followed him out the door and found themselves in the Olympia Hills Park. Hermes grabbed two pieces of rope from the parcel bag.

"The three-legged race!" he said as he tied together Nate and Victor, and then Mera and Valerie. "Jay can sit this one out," he said, "the trees on the other end of this meadow is your goal! Ready? Set! Go!"

As soon as Hermes said go, both teams tried to run, before tripping up their partners and causing all four to hit the ground.

"That went well," Nate said as he spat a leaf out of his mouth.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Underworld, Hades was on his skull throne again, with Persephone by his side once again. Hades smirked as the teens fell into the grass once more.

"It will take a while for these new Rangers to reach the pinnacle of power the original Olympians were at. I need to take them down now, while they are still inexperienced with the idea of teamwork. And I know just the monster to take them down!"

His hand swirled in the blue-flamed brazer before creating a portal by throwing the fireball.

"My lord," Persephone said, "isn't it too early to bring out _that_ monster?"

"No, my dear" Hades said as the monster jumped out of the portal on the floor, "I think it's the perfect time for the rangers to meet Argus."

Argus cackled as he opened all of his eyes located all over his body. Some were on his arms, or his legs with a few covered by the armor he wore with a large eye-emblazoned chest plate. "EYE see trouble for the Rangers!" he shouted.

Hades threw another fireball, creating the portal to Earth grinning as the monster walked through it.

'Those teenage brats are done this time!' he thought.

* * *

After falling down several times along the way, the two teams had finally gotten to the goal. Hermes shook his head.

"There has to be a better way to do this…" he thought out loud, "wait...that's it! Jay, why don't you try to help them out?"

"What do you...oh! I know what you mean!" Jay said as he put the puzzle pieces together.

"All right guys, follow my lead! Left! Right! Left! Right!" he yelled as he jogged next to the other teens. By following Jay's pace, the others very quickly got a rhythm going, and had reached the other end of the field very quickly.

They were just about to celebrate when a blue flame circle rose up in front of them. Out stepped Argus, the eye creature, and some Spartoi.

"EYE commend you on your teamwork, but EYE can still defeat you! Spartoi! EYE command you to attack!" he said, emphasizing the "EYE" parts.

Hermes ran towards two trees as his hands glowed white. He managed to run in between them and teleported through the magic doors back into the Temple. He quickly sat down at the mosaic computer and quickly started typing out some commands.

The Spartoi were on the rangers before they could even activate their morphers. Jay grabbed the arm of a Spartoi and swung it around to hit another one in the head, sending it straight into the lake. The body flailed around for a minute before disintegrating.

Nate was grabbed on each arms by two Spartoi as another one came charging at him, trying to hit him in the gut. Nate used the leverage of his grabbed arms to lift himself up to kick the charging Spartoi straight in the chest, sending it flying into the lake as well.

As a Spartoi tried to punch Valerie, she ducked and swept her leg against the legs of the Spartoi. As it crumbled to the ground, she punted the head into the lake and sighed in relief as the head disintegrate into dust.

"At least we aren't polluting the lake," Valerie said to Mera as Mera rolled away from a Spartoi to give it a side kick into the lake.

"I agree, who knows the effects it could have on the environment if it didn't disappear."

Victor managed to grab the Spartoi who tried to grab him and put one in a bear hug. He shuffled over to the lake and threw the Spartoi in.

With all of the Spartoi defeated, the Rangers regrouped in front of the lake and crossed their arms and the gems started to glow with power.

"Pink Olympian Power!"

"Yellow Olympian Power!"

"Black Olympian Power!"

"Blue Olympian Power!"

"Red Olympian Power!"

After Jay called out his color, all of the Rangers were surrounded in a flash of their respective color before stepping forward to start their roll call.

"Aphrodite, goddess of love! Pink Olympian Ranger!"

"Athena, goddess of wisdom! Yellow Olympian Ranger!"

"Hephaestus, god of the forge! Black Olympian Ranger!"

"Poseidon, god of the sea! Blue Olympian Ranger!"

"Zeus, god of lightning! Red Olympian Ranger!"

"Using the powers of the past to protect the future! Power Rangers Olympian Force!"

Following that, each Ranger called for their personal weapons:

"Lightning Sword!"

"Blacksmith Hammer!"

"Love Bow!"

"Ocean Trident!"

"Battle Spear!"

The called weapons materialized in the Rangers' hands as they prepared for the battle at hand.

Valerie pulled back her bow string as an arrow appeared. As she let go and fired it, Victor charged with his hammer and got hit in the back with the arrow. While it didn't hurt him, it still disrupted his concentration.

Jay noticed this and took charge, "Alright, we can't have a repeat of practice, so follow my lead! Mera and Nate, you two try to jab out as many eyes as you can on his arms. Valerie, you aim to shoot at his head. Victor, see if your hammer can crack that chestplate. I'll distract him by slashing his legs. Let's move!"

The other Rangers nodded and went to their assigned tasks. Mera and Nate pulled back their weapons and quickly jabbed repeatedly any eye their weapons could reach. Just as Argus was about to deal with them, an arrow struck him in the face. He roared in pain as, one by one, his eyes were stabbed or shot out.

Jay slide on the ground between Argus' legs, slashing with his sword as he went. Argus fell down to the ground on his knees as VIctor brought his hammer around and smashed it straight into Argus' gut, cracking his chest plate.

"You may have thought that we couldn't work together, but you were wrong!" Jay said as the other Rangers nodded, "and the best way to show it is when we bring our weapons together!"

Very quickly, the Rangers had changed the weapons and had combined them into the Olympian Crossbow. The other rangers helped brace the crossbow as Jay imbued some of his power into the Lightning Sword.

"Olympic Lightning Storm!" he shouted as he pulled the trigger, "fire!"

The sword was launched from the crossbow as it sparked with lightning power. It struck Argus straight in the face, and he yelled in pain as he exploded in a large ball of flame.

"Alright," Nate said, "monster vanquished and all, time to go home!"

"You may want to reconsider your original conclusion!" Mera shouted as she pointed behind the other rangers, "look!"

The remains of Argus were now surrounded in blue flame as he was put back together piece by piece before growing to a size 50 times his original height. He cackled as he tried to stomp on the now minuscule Rangers.

"EYE don't think you Rangers can conquer this!" he laughed as he kicked down the trees around him.

"Uh, Hermes?" Jay asked through his communicator in his helmet, "Polyphemus didn't do this! How in the world do we deal with it?"

"No problem, rangers," Hermes explained as he finally finished his typing, "I was waiting to see if Hades would pull this trick. Because of you learning to work together, I'm sending out the Zords now!"

"Zords?" Valerie asked, "aren't those the giant robots other teams of Power Rangers have used before?"

"Not just that!" Victor said excitedly, "their mechanical marvels! By the laws of physics, their internal systems shouldn't be able to support themselves! Especially with all of the abuse they usually take!"

"Someone's really going to enjoy this part…" Nate said sarcastically, "they can't be that gre- OH MY GOD!"

In the air came a large Red Eagle Zord with ridges on the wings to represent feathers, a large rectangular body that was red with an orange belly and two little small legs with talons, and a Yellow Owl Zord with a silver crest on its head, flat wings and even smaller legs than the eagle.

On land came a Black Bull Zord with silver horns and a trapezoid- shaped body and a Sea-Blue Horse Zord with a darker blue mane and hooves. The Horse Zord's body was a long, thin rectangle compensated by it's long, many-jointed legs.

By sea came a bright Pink Fish. It had a darker, magenta tail and dorsal fin that traveled up the length of its body.

Each Ranger jumped up and into their Zords by way of the holes that opened to accept them. Inside each cockpit was a seat, and controls in front, to the left and to the right of the pilot. On the back golden wall was a colored version of their visor surrounded by a circle.

"Alright, everyone," Hermes said over the communicator, "you have to place your Olympian gems in the indents on the left and right of you."

Jay removed the gems from his wristbands and placed them in the little gold-colored indent, and suddenly the systems flashed to life. The same thing happened in the other Zords as the rangers placed their gems in the designated areas.

"All Rangers report in!" Jay called out over the communicator in the Zords as he pulled a lever, causing the zord to start flying towards the monster.

"This is Nate, ready to kick some monster butt!" Nate said as he pulled back one of the throttle sticks, causing him to gallop forward.

"Mera responding, all systems are primed and readied," Mera responded as she pulled a similar lever to Jay, causing her Zord to fly right next to the other two in formation.

"Victor calling in, glad to use technology to save the day!" Victor called out as he pushed his joystick forward, which caused his bull to charge right next to Nate's horse in formation.

"Valerie here! Excited to fight evil in style!" Valerie returned as she pushed her steering wheel forward, which caused her Zord to zoom along like a motorboat next to the other zords.

Now completely in formation, the Zords charged forward to hit Argus head-on. As Nate and Victor tried to push him over by striking his legs, Jay and Mera were swooping around his head, distracting him as Valerie shot lasers from the fish's eyes. Their attempts appeared to be in vain, however, as Argus just tossed the land Zords around like rag dolls, swatted the air Zords out of the sky and just ignored the lasers of the water Zord.

"I've always wanted to say this," Jay said, "it's time to bring them together!" He flicked a few switches before turning a dial from "ZORD MODE" to "WARRIOR MODE"

"Right!" the other four said as they did the same.

The Bull Zord was the first to change, as the head came off, the body split apart and the legs flipped around 180ᣞ and the front and back legs combined.

The Horse Zord was next, as it's head went into a chest cavity while the front and back legs combined together and connected to the bull legs, forming a complete waist, legs and feet.

The Eagle Zord was next. As its wings clipped off together in one long arc-shaped piece and it's legs slid into its body before it connected to the horse, it was now forming the entire body of the combination. The eagle head screeched and opened up it's mouth to fit the other side of the Bull Zord's head into it, revealing a robotic face.

Next came the Owl Zord. As its head detached from the body and the body detached from the wings, the wings clipped onto the sides of the eagle and expanded, forming the arms.

Lastly was the Fish Zord. As the entire dorsal fin and tail came off, it popped open completely in half before coming onto the Eagle Zord's body as a chestplate and combining together again. The tail folded into a plume that went onto the Eagle Zord's head to complete the helmet look. The horns from the Bull Zord head attached together and became a straight point before combining with the dorsal fin to create a large spear that went into the left hand. The Owl Zord body lengthened itself a bit before the head slid into a hole in the center, finishing the shield, which went on the right arm.

"Olympian Megazord: Warrior Mode ready!" all five Rangers shouted as they all joined together in a single cockpit. Jay was in the front with Nate diagonally to his right, Victor diagonally on his left, Valerie diagonally behind Nate and Mera diagonally behind Victor

"Uh oh… EYE didn't see this coming!" Argus said as the Megazord walked forward towards him. He quickly got over his fear, however, and charged at the giant robot.

The Rangers shifted their controls to the side, and the shield and spear shrank as the Megazord rolled out of the way of the charge, causing Argus to fall on his face. The weapons quickly expanded to normal size just in time for the spear to stab Argus' cracked chestplate. The Megazord slowly walked forward, pushing the spear in as they went. Argus grunted as the spear was driven in deeper.

The Megazord finally drive the spear right through the monster, but Argus wasn't about to give up. He got up as the hole in his chest quickly regenerated itself.

"EYE am immortal!" Argus shouted as the hole completely filled itself.

"We'll see about that!" Jay said as he pressed his gems on the console, causing the entire cockpit to glow with red energy. "Activate Lightning Javelin!" he commanded.

The other Rangers pressed their gems and the Megazords eyes started to glow as a storm gathered over the two combatants. The Megazord raised it's spear as red lightning struck it, causing the entire weapon to course with red electricity.

"Lightning Javelin!" all five Rangers yelled, "Go!"

The Megazord threw the spear in a straight line, right in the forehead of Argus, causing him to start to spark.

"EYE admit defeat…" Argus said as he fell to the ground, exploding as the Megazord posed in front of the flames.

"THAT WAS AWESOME!" Nate yelled as he got up from his cockpit to join all of the others in the center while taking off his helmet.

As all of the other helmet-less Rangers congratulated each other and celebrated, Jay smiled. They had saved the day again, just like his heroes.

"Quick question?" Victor asked, "how in the world do we get out of this thing?"

Everyone started to laugh as Victor stood there confused, "Guys? Guys? That wasn't a joke, I'm serious!"

* * *

After getting out of the Megazord and getting back to base, the de-morphed rangers were in the Temple again. Victor was behind Hermes as he typed away in some strange language, Nate and Mera were sparring on the mat and Jay was admiring the armor.

Valerie cleared her throat as she came to stand next to Jay. "You know, Mera told me how much you loved the Power Rangers, but I didn't realize how dedicated that love would make you to the idea of the team, You're the reason we were able to come together and beat Argus today."

"If one of you was the leader, I'm sure you would do the same thing," Jay replied.

"I disagree," Valerie countered, "no two teams are alike, right? Well, you're the leader this team needs, because you understand all of us and you know how to get us to work together."

"It was a team effort," Jay said as he brushed a speck of dirt off the helmet of the red ranger suit, "the Power Rangers can do anything, as long as we work together."

The other Rangers walked up and gave Jay a round of applause.

"Well said," Hermes said as he hovered next to the teens, "the reason you could use the zords today wasn't just because you needed them, but because I knew you could work together to create the Megazord. It can only work when you all are in perfect harmony with each other"

"So we need all five of us to form it?" Mera asked.

"No, but you will find the more of you there are working together, the more you can do. Or, as I like to say, 'together, we are more'"

* * *

"No no no no!" Hades said as he threw a mini tantrum before recomposing himself. "I'll just have to be more creative," he said in a calmer voice, "if I can beat now, they can never stop me!"

Persephone had a worried look on her face, "fight hard, rangers," she whispered, "the planet is depending on you…"

**Not quite as long as the last one, but 4k isn't bad. Reviews are nice, knowing you enjoy this is even better! Until next time, may the power protect you. **


	3. Taking the Bull by the Horns

**Notes: **

**I don't own Power Rangers as a franchise, just this team of Power Rangers.**

**If you haven't guessed, I'm trying a schedule of one chapter a week. We'll see how closely I stick to that. School, work and other life things keep getting in the way.**

**Shout out to both DragonEmperor999 and JTWAS1994 for reviewing both chapters.**

**On with the story!**

**Power Rangers Olympian Force Chapter 3: Taking the Bull by the Horns**

Victor Steel looked at his clock, deep in thought. The clock, like most things in his little apartment, was made of whatever Victor could find from cheap sources. Thrift stores, trash cans, heck even discounted appliances were game to get the parts he needed for his inventions. Victor, however, wasn't thinking of his current financial situation, like usual, instead he was thinking about what he had been doing for almost a week now. He had been a Power Ranger. It was cool, but not his real dream. It was actually starting to ruin his life. He couldn't invent if he was going to be called away at a moment's notice.

Victor hadn't been one of those kids who wanted to be a superhero when they grew up. He wanted to help people in a different way: with his inventions. But no matter what he created, it was never _new_ enough. By the time he thought he invented anything revolutionary, industries were already miles ahead of him. So he stuck to what he knew: inventing new versions of things. Maybe he didn't invent huge things that would change the world, but he built things that would help one person. Any company would have hired him on the spot, if he wasn't in high school, but they wouldn't even give him a part time job if they learned of his last name...

The ringing alarm broke his daydreams. Not that they were really going anywhere. He got out of bed and began to dress for school. The shower wasn't working...again. He looked at the bills littered all over the table. The water bill was on top, addressed to him with a bounced check inside. He sighed as he grabbed his bag and grabbed his lightweight folding bike hanging on the coat rack. It was time to face the world.

* * *

It was gym class, and Victor was not in the mood for it. As Mera and Nate were in the middle of a shoving match, with Valerie in the middle, Jay was walking up to him.

"You good, man?" he asked as he sat down next to the taller teen.

"Not really," Victor muttered as he messed around with his spare parts instead of playing soccer or baseball like the other teens were.

"You want to talk about it? I haven't seen you this depressed since you left home, and moved out on your own," Jay remarked as he laid back in the grass before sitting up.

"Not really, " Victor repeated.

Jay got up and went over to Valerie, who had finally managed to break Mera and Nate apart, "look, I know you probably problem-solving drained, but could you try to help out Victor. I have a feeling a prettier face might help him talk about it more.

Valerie grinned, "doesn't take much work to be prettier than you!" she joked as she gave Jay a playful shove.

"I'm wounded! Wounded! Someone call a medic! Medic!" Jay exclaimed as he played along.

Valarie smiled as she turned around. 'That makes three happy friends, just one more to go,' she thought as she went over to Victor.

"What's up, tough guy?" she asked as she sat down in the same spot Jay had been, "you don't look too great."

"'m fine," he muttered.

"You know, the harder you try to fight us, the more we're going to try to help you," Valerie explained, "it's kind of how friendship works, we help each other out, and we never, ever give up on each other."

"That's sweet, really." Victor said as he raised his voice from a mumble to normal volume, "but unless my friends can magically make money appear, I don't need your help!" he said as his voice became more aggressive.

"So you would prefer I leave?" Valerie asked.

"Yes. Please.

"Fine," Valerie said as she stood up and walked over to Jay, who had managed to get Mera and Jay to stop fighting.

"How's the big guy?" Jay asked, "I'm sure the Psychology major in the making did her magic, and he's better now, right?"

"I'm afraid not," Valerie said as she shook her head, "I think we need to find another way to find the source of his issue, do you know if there's any family we can talk to?"

"There's his dad," Jay said, "but I don't think that's a good idea. He and Victor have kind of severed ties.

"As in…?"

"As in they're not speaking to each other, or living with each other, at all," Nate said as he finally joined the conversation.

"That could actually _be_ the source of the issues, who's his father?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

Valarie was curious now, "try me."

Mera finally piped up, "his father is the owner of Steel Works Inc."

Valerie's eyes went as wide as dinner plates, "_that_ Steel Works Inc, as in the company that basically created half the things in Olympia Hills?"

Jay nodded, "still want to try?"

"We have to," Valerie said, "our friend needs us."

"I'm in," Jay said, "and I assume you two are as well?"

Nate shook his head, "I've got training to do."

"And I'm going to look in the Archives to find out all I can on Hades' monsters," Mera added.

"Looks like it's just the two of us then, unless we try to drag Victor along," Jay said, "but I personally think that's a bad idea."

"Agreed."

* * *

"So, the black Ranger is having issues with his friends," Hades remarked, "a team is only as strong as its weakest link, and right now he is the weakest link."

"What do you plan to do, my lord?" Persephone asked, "and how do you keep the other Rangers from helping him?"

"The others are too busy to aid their comrade. Besides, I have the perfect monster!" Hades announced to no one in particular, "I call upon the mighty Minotaur!"

He reached into the blue-flamed brazier and threw a fireball that opened a portal to Tartarus. Out stepped a large half-bull half-human hybrid. It looked how a bull standing on two feet would look, but there was armor everywhere on him, protecting his bones and joints.

"Let me at 'im!" it bellowed in a deep voice, "I'm ready to lock horns with the Black Ranger!"

Hades opened up a portal by throwing another fireball, "do not fail me!" he said as the bull jumped through the portal before it sputtered out.

* * *

"I didn't realize the building would be so big!" Valerie shouted above the hustle and bustle of downtown Olympia Hills. Both she and Jay had left the school at 2:30, and had walked to the Steel Works Inc. main offices, where Victor's dad would be. As they walked inside, they found it was quite possibly more busy there than it was outside. The main lobby was full of people either sitting or standing waiting to complain, apply or just meet with the staff.

"I didn't realize how many people would be here," Jay stated, "we probably should have made an appointment…"

"Well, the only thing we can do is ask," Valerie said as she walked up to the receptionist's desk, "Hi, we're friends with Mr. Steel's son, and we're a little worried about their relationship. We wanted to see if we could speak with him for about five minutes?"

"Mr. Steel doesn't just meet with anyone," the receptionist said as she typed away at her computer, not even looking up from the screen, "do you have an appointment?"

"Not exactly, but…"

"I can't help you, honey," the receptionist said dryly, "the next appointment is in...let's see… four months. Do you want me to put you down for then?"

"We'll be fine, thanks," Jay said as he slowly pulled Valerie away as she started to get frustrated, "c'mon, Valerie, we've got better places to be." They started to walk away before they heard a voice behind them that they recognized from so many commercials for Steel Works.

"Look, I can't just accept any project that comes my way," the voice said, "what do you think this is? Shark Tank?"

"But...but…" the young man being spoken to said before bursting into tears and running out the front door.

Valerie saw her chance.

"Excuse me, Mr. Steel?"

A larger man turned around. He had Victor's muscular frame, and stood at a strong 6'2. Unlike Victor, he was clean-shaven and had a blue business suit without a spot of dust or dirt on it.

"What do you want?" he said in a deep voice, "can't you see I'm busy? Time is money, and I seem to just be wasting it on everyone"

Valerie and Jay were taken aback. How could a soft-spoken teen like Victor come from such a harsh and brash man like Mr. Steel?

Valerie was the first to speak, "it's Victor, sir, we're his friends and…."

"Not my problem," Mr. Steel said quickly as he headed towards the elevator, "if he won't follow the path I've set him up for, he doesn't deserve my attention, good day." He said the last part right as the elevator doors shut in Valerie's face.

* * *

"Should have brought Nate," Jay said, "they both speak 'arrogant' so fluently, I'm sure they would be best friends."

"Funny, but not helpful," Valerie said as she paced a bit. They were outside the building, weighing their options, "we can either try again, or give up on this part and try to talk to Victor again."

"I don't know what other choice we really have," Jay said as he finally found a bench to sit on as Valerie continued to pace around, getting some weird looks as she bumped into some walking people.

"Hey, bud?" a man asked as he sat down next to Jay, he was wearing a mechanic's uniform and hat, which hid his eyes "maybe you should try to stop your girlfriend before she hurts herself."

"Girlfriend? Oh, you mean Valerie," Jay said, "she's not my girlfriend, she's just a friend who happens to be a girl."

"Riiight, So, what's she so worked up about?"

"We're trying to help a friend, and can't seem to find the best way. We tried to talk to his father, and that didn't go so well," Jay explained.

"I've found that sometimes, it's best to start at the beginning," the man said as he got up,

"Thanks," Jay said as he stood to catch up to Valerie, "you look familiar…"

"I get that a lot," the man said as he stood up, "I look like every mechanic in the city."

Just as Jay was going to ask him another question, the strange man disappeared into the crowd.

Jay shrugged and turned around to catch up with Valerie.

* * *

Victor kicked a rock as he walked back to his apartment. He wondered if pushing his friends away was really the best move or not. 'They'll only get in the way,' he thought, 'but what if they could help me?'

He was knocked out of his daydream by the arrival of the Minotaur in front of him and Spartoi all around him.

"Black Ranger!" the Minotaur shouted as he began to charge, "prepare to be gored on the horns!"

"That was a terrible rhyme," Victor said as he threw off his bag and strapped on his Olympian Morphers. "It's morphing time! Black Olympian Power!"

In a flash of light, Victor Steel was replaced with the Black Olympian Ranger, who quickly summoned his Blacksmith Hammer to smash the MInotaur right across the face with it, sending him flying into a wall that cracked from the hole the Minotaur had created. The Minotaur charged again as Victor sighed. This guy obviously didn't learn.

Victor swung his hammer again, but was shocked to find that the hammer bounced off the Minotaur's horns. The impact instead caused an explosion that sent Victor flying into a pile of crates, smashing them all into smithereens.

"Foolish Ranger! The more distance I go, the more force I create! My horns can unleash that kinetic energy whenever I wish. For instance..."

The Minotaur charged again. As Victor rolled away, the Minotaur struck the wall before turning around and creating another explosion, this one with Victor in the very middle of it. He yelled in pain as he fell to the ground and demorphed.

"Time to crush his skull!" the Minotaur yelled as he raised his hoof over Victor's head.

"Hey! Tall, dark and gruesome!" Valerie yelled as she crossed her morphers as Jay ran up next to her and did the same.

"Pink Olympian Power!"

"Red Olympian Power!"

"You had one job!" the Minotaur roared at the Spartoi as he lowered his foot next to Victor's head, "you boneheads were supposed to make sure nobody interfered!"

"Are we interfering?" Jay jokingly asked Valerie, "do you feel like we're interfering?"

"Only because this hornhead tried to crush our friend!" she said seriously as she summoned her bow, "Love Bow!"

Jay copied her serious demeanor and followed her lead by summoning his own weapon.

"Lightning Sword!"

Valerie pulled back her bow string quickly and shot an energy arrow that knocked the Minotaur away as Jay charged and did a jumping sword slash with his sparking sword.

The Minotaur took both of the hits and stumbled before looking around, as if deciding his odds.

"Maybe next time, Black Ranger!" he said as he stomped the ground and created a golden portal before jumping into it, followed by all of the Spartoi.

"Well, that went over pretty well," Jay remarked as he and Valerie demorphed.

"Victor!" Valerie yelled as she ran over to look at his badly burned body, "Hermes, we need a door, quickly!" she said into her right morpher as both she and Jay picked Victor up and carried him through the glowing doors that quickly appeared and then disappeared as they made it through.

They were met by Hermes, Nate and Mera, who all looked at Victor's scorched body, before Hermes led them to a door that was the medical center. Nate helped Jay lift Victor onto the bed as Hermes tried to treat him.

"This could take several hours," Hermes said as he set up a magical iv drip for Victor, "this is nectar from Olympus itself, very dangerous, but it may be the only way to save him. Even my healing powers can't heal injuries as severe as these."

"Then do it!" Jay ordered, "I'm not losing a Ranger in my first week!"

His voice became quieter as he stared at Victor's body, "not in my first week."

* * *

It had been 3 hours, and Victor's condition had only slightly improved. He was no longer in life-threatening danger, and his third-degree burns were turning into second-degree. However, he was still unconscious.

"How is he?" Mera asked as Hermes walked out of the medical center and back into the main room.

"Well, I'm no Apollo, but he'll live."

The two of them were interrupted by Jay slicing another wooden dummy in half.

"He's really not taking it well," Valerie explained as she walked up, "he's blaming himself for not saving Victor."

"I'm fine!" Jay said as he sliced another one vertically.

"Dude, you are not fine," Nate said as he got of the weapon rack he was leaning on, "at this rate, we'll be out of wooden dummies really soon."

Jay finally stopped his rampage and placed his sword back on the weapon rack. "I thought this would make me feel better," he said, "but I still feel like a failure. I just need to find that Minotaur and..."

"I believe you will get your revenge soon enough," Mera said, "look!"

The mosaic stones had twisted and turned to show the Minotaur smashing through an entire warehouse with one charge.

With a quick order from Jay, the Rangers ran through the doors. The Minotaur was the only monster in sight.

"No Spartoi to clobber this time? So it's just us and him!" Jay said as he activated his morphers, "ready?"

"Pink Olympian Power!"

"Yellow Olympian Power!"

"Blue Olympian Power!"

"Red Olympian Power!"

There was a flash of multi colored lights before the four Rangers began the roll call:

"Aphrodite, goddess of love! Pink Olympian Ranger!"

"Athena, goddess of wisdom! Yellow Olympian Ranger!"

"Poseidon, god of the sea! Blue Olympian Ranger!"

"Zeus, god of lightning! Red Olympian Ranger!"

"Using the powers of the past to protect the future! Power Rangers Olympian Force!"

"Am I supposed to be impressed?" The Minotaur roared in laughter, "I wasn't ready for you last time, but now? I was prepared!"

Multiple golden portals appeared around the Rangers, and out came many, _many_ Spartoi. They formed a ring around the Rangers, forcing them to huddle together.

"Anyone have a good plan?" Nate asked, "I mean, we walked right into this! Great going Jay!"

"Like you could come up with anything better!" Jay said, "I'm already stressed about Victor, and now you're questioning my leadership? How dare you!"

The two began to wrestle to the floor as the girls tried to break them up.

"Uh… big scary monster here! Can we get back to our battle now?" the Minotaur said as the Spartoi stood there looking confused.

"Stay out of it!" Jay and Nate yelled.

"Fine!" Jay yelled at Nate as the girls pulled them apart, "you think you can do better? After this mission, if you still doubt me, I will let you lead the team for the next one."

"Deal," Nate said as the two shook hands.

"OK, great," Mera said, "can we return to the issue at hand?"

"Yeah! Like the monster that got us in this mess?" Valerie added.

"Alright," Jay said, "the Minotaur in Greek Myth was trapped in a labyrinth,but this one seems to be able to create one with portals, so let's try knocking the Spartoi back into the portals!"

The other Rangers nodded as they summoned their weapons and prepared for battle.

* * *

Victor groaned as his eyes fluttered open, "that was not pleasant" he said out loud to no one. He slowly climbed off the bed and wheeled the IV behind him as he went into the main room.

"Where is everyone?" Victor asked wincing as he stepped on his slightly burned feet. He managed to get over to see the mosaic displaying the Rangers trapped around Spartoi as they fought in vain to get free.

"Your friends are in trouble," Hermes said, "but you pushed them away before, will you push them away again and leave them to their fate?"

Victor stood there in silence for a moment before he pulled out the IV and put on his morphers. "I was chosen because of my desire to help people," he explained, "and I won't let that change now. It's morphing time! Black Olympian Power!"

There was a flash of light as Victor ran through the doors and ran straight towards the Spartoi, summoning his hammer as he went. He yelled in fury as he smashed some Spartoi aside and reached his friends.

"Sorry I'm late guys!" he said.

"Better late than never," Jay said as Victor pulled him and the other Rangers up, "now how about we get some revenge on horn-head?"

"I can get behind that!" Nate said as he and the girls prepped their weapons.

"I have an idea!" Victor exclaimed, "Valerie, try and shoot my hammer with your bow! I just need to make a few modifications...". He walked over and tinkered with the bow for a few seconds. He backed away as he gave his hammer to Valerie, who placed it into her bow and pulled back the string before firing it at the Minotaur.

"Blacksmith Bow Strike!" Valerie shouted as the hammer flew straight into the Minotaur's face, causing an explosion that hit no one and knocked him to the ground. As he sat there dazed, the Rangers put their weapons together.

"Olympian Crossbow!" the Rangers shouted as Victor and Jay swapped their usual places. Jay was now supporting the bow, and Victor was the one ready to fire it.

"Olympic Anvil Rain!" Victor cried as he infused the Lightning Sword with his own power, "fire!". He pulled the trigger.

The sword flew in an arc up and hit and stuck to the ceiling of the warehouse. From the hilt of the sword came multiple anvils raining down on the Minotaur. As he was being crushed, the Minotaur shouted, "this is just bull!" as he exploded from the pressure of being crushed.

Just as the Rangers were about to celebrate, the remains of the Minotaur were surrounded in a blue flame as they quickly pieced themselves back together into the form of the monster, before he grew enough to tower over the warehouses themselves.

"We need the Zords!" Victor said into his communicator in his helmet.

"On their way," Hermes said as he pressed a series of runes on the keyboard.

The Rangers ran outside and saw, in the distance, their Zords. The Black Bull Zord stomped as the Blue Horse Zord galloped. The Yellow Owl Zord soared overhead as the Red Eagle Zord, holding the Pink Fish Zord in its talons, dive bombed right into the Minotaur.

"What's going on?" the Minotaur shouted, "doesn't matter! I'll bowl you all over!"

The Rangers quickly jumped into their zords and, after inserting their Olympian gems into the right indentations, turned the dial to from "ZORD MODE" to "WARRIOR MODE".

"Zords, combine!" Jay shouted as the Zords began to twist and turn.

The Bull Zord was the first to change, as the head came off, the body split apart and the legs flipped around 180ᣞ and the front and back legs combined.

The Horse Zord was next, as it's head went into a chest cavity while the front and back legs combined together and connected to the bull legs, forming a complete waist, legs and feet.

The Red Eagle Zord was next. As its wings clipped off together in one long arc-shaped piece and it's legs slid into its body before it connected to the Horse, it was now forming the entire body of the combination. The eagle head screeched and opened up it's mouth to fit the other side of the bull's head into it, revealing a robotic face.

Next came the Owl Zord. As its head detached from the body and the body detached from the wings, the wings clipped onto the sides of the eagle and expanded, forming the arms.

Lastly was the Fish Zord. As the entire dorsal fin and tail came off, it popped open completely in half before coming onto the Eagle's body as a chestplate and combining together again. The tail folded into a plume that went onto the eagle's head to complete the helmet look. The horns from the Bull head attached together and became a straight point before combining with the dorsal fin to create a large spear that went into the left hand. The Owl body lengthened itself a bit before the head slid into a hole in the center, finishing the shield, which went on the right arm.

"Olympian Megazord: Warrior Mode ready!" all five Rangers shouted as they all joined together in a single cockpit. Jay was in the front with Nate diagonally to his right, Victor diagonally on his left, Valerie diagonally behind Nate and Mera diagonally behind Victor

The Minotaur charged straight at the Megazord, which barely had time to raise it's shield to withstand the impact. To the Rangers' surprise, there was no explosion, as there had been before.

"Because of the Minotaur's size, it can't build up the kinetic force needed to create an explosion!" Mera realized.

The Megazord lifted it's spear and sliced off the right horn of the Minotaur, then it sliced off the right one.

"I'm de-horned!" the Minotaur yelled as it held it's horn stumps in pain.

"Time to end this bull ride!" Jay yelled as he pressed down on his Olympian gems, causing the entire cockpit to glow with a red light, "Go! Lightning Javelin!"

A storm quickly formed over the two combatants as the Megazord raised it's spear in time for it to be struck with red lightning before throwing it into the Minotaur's chest. The Minotaur began to spark and fell to the ground before exploding, with the Megazord spinning around and posing in front of the explosion.

As the Rangers celebrated, Nate walked up to Jay.

"I guess I have to apologize…" he said, "you still are the better leader…"

He turned around and his face turned dark

"For now."

* * *

Hades growled as the Minotaur blew up in his blue flame-vision.

"Not again!" he yelled as he stood up from his throne and paced around, "I just have to be more creative…"

Persephone smiled at the exploding monsters before quickly turning it into a frown when Hades looked in her direction.

"The Red and Pink Ranger must have gotten help to know to go find the black Ranger, but who?" he thought aloud, "I will find who helped them, and I will make them pay!"

* * *

"So, how did you find me?" Victor asked. It was the next day at lunch, and the teens were back at their usual spot.

"I just...knew," Valerie said simply as she ate a spoonful of yogurt, "I just had this feeling of where you would be."

"And I had some guy tell me to 'start at the beginning', so I knew we had to find you to help you," Jay added, "just with a different problem than we meant to help you with."

"What do you mean?" Victor asked, "I pushed you guys away and all, but where could you have gone to try to solve that? I made it pretty clear it was personal, so who could you have talked to?"

He took a sip of water as Valerie and Jay spoke up at the same time.

"Your dad."

Victor did a spit-take and started to cough before finally being able to speak.

"You did what?"

"We went to your dad to try to figure out the problem," Valerie explained, "and he was no help at all."

"Not a shock," Victor said, "if it doesn't involve either money or the future of his company, he doesn't really care."

"Not even about his own son?" Mera asked out loud as she took a bite of her salad, "you are an only child, right? Shouldn't he be worried about his posterity?"

"His what?" Nate whispered to Valerie as he stopped eating his sub for a moment..

"She means his kid," Valerie explained in a whisper.

"Not enough," Victor said to Mera, "why did you even try?" He directed this question to Jay.

"We just wanted to help," Jay said, "and we were kind of pushed away."

"Sorry I did that," Victor said, "it probably just worried you guys more than if I had just explained it to you."

"Speaking of explaining," Valerie said, "what was the issue?"

Victor sighed before he began his explanation, "you saw how my dad is a businessman, right?"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Well, he didn't and still won't respect my desire to be in the building department as an inventor. He wants me to take his place when he retires. We had a difference in my future, so I took all of the inventions I could and left. That's when this mechanic guy told me of a really cheap apartment, which was good. I had almost no money to my name. Eventually, though, the cheap apartment still was too expensive. I tried to find a part-time job, but my dad had blacklisted me from almost anywhere I could think of. I couldn't even find that mechanic guy who told me about the apartments to give me a job. Now, the bills are piling up, my checking account is empty and I don't have more than $10 in my wallet."

There was a moment of silence, and Victor realized he had been crying while he had told the entire story. He wiped away the tears as his friends looked at him. His face changed into a determined one.

"But if you guys are behind me, I guess I can stand up to any challenge, including my dad. Meet me at the Steel Inc. building after school. I think it's time my father and I had a few words."

"We're behind you, no matter what," Jay said as he placed his hand on Victor's shoulder, as the rest of the teens nodded in agreement.

* * *

The teens met in front of the Steel Inc. building at 2:50, and walked in to find it was just as busy today as it had been yesterday. People filled the chairs, and the same secretary from before was watch them all from behind her thick rimmed glasses.

"Oh. it's you," she said dryly, and Jay couldn't figure out if it was referring to himself and Valerie, or to Victor. She cleared up the question when she pick up the phone and dialed before saying, "Mr Steel? We have your son in the lobby...Yes, I know...Are you sure?...Yes, sir."

She looked at the teens again, "Victor, you can go up. The rest of you can wait down here with me."

"Oh joy!" Jay whispered to Valerie, who just giggled before regaining her composure.

"Well, here I go," Victor said as he walked to the elevator and typed in the code. It hadn't been changed since he had last been here. The elevator quickly zipped up to the penthouse, and the doors opened with a little chime. Sitting behind the desk in the back of the spacious room was Mr. Steel.

"Victor," he said simply.

"Dad," Victor responded in the same tone.

"What do I owe to this rare pleasure?" Mr. Steel said sarcastically, "last time I saw you, you were stomping out of here saying that you were going to never come back. What changed? Have you come to crawl back and beg forgiveness?"

"What changed is I found friends who support me, and I found a way to help people in the best way I can," Victor responded, "but I'm not crawling back, I came back to tell you that you need to stop blacklisting me from jobs. I refuse to accept your future for me…"

He was quickly interrupted by his father, "so you came back to tell me to give up? You know me better than that, son. I never, ever give up until I achieve my goal! How do you think I built this business? How do you think I got your mother? How do you think I have succeed so well in life?"

"By pushing people away," Victor responded, "by allowing my mother to leave when I was five. By forcing your future on to me. By viciously jumping upon any way you could get ahead, whether it was legal or not!"

He calmed down slightly before continuing, "you refuse to accept that I don't want to be you. I want to build things to help people. I want to do something because it's right, not because of the financial gain. That's why I have people behind me, and you sit behind this desk in this cold, empty room."

He stood up to leave before turning around and say confidently, "either stop blacklisting me, or I will tell every new station I can about every illegal move you have ever made."

"What do you want?" his father asked frantically, "Jewels? Cars? Money?"

"I want to be allowed to live my life," Victor said, "good-bye, Dad. For good this time." He turned and began to walk back to the elevator.

"Don't you turn away from me, young man!" his father yelled at his back, "now get back here or I'll...I'll…"

Victor turned around in the elevator to face his father once more, "You'll allow me to make my own choices," he said before the elevator doors closed behind him.

"You haven't heard the last of me!" his father screamed, "I will find a way to make you follow in my footsteps, whether you like it or not!"

* * *

"Wow, he said all that?" Nate asked as the teens strolled through the park. It was around 4:30, and the teens had decided to go to the park right next to Steel Inc.

"Yeah," Victor said, "I think he'll back off now, I can finally get back on my feet."

"Speaking of getting you back on your feet…" Jay said as he handed a white envelope to Victor, "inside here is $400, we each donated a hundred bucks a piece."

"You didn't have to do this…" Victor said quietly.

"But we did," Valerie said, "because that's what friends are for."

The teens walked off into the field, a group of five friends now even stronger and closer than before.

**Reviews are always appreciated!**

**Until next time, may the power protect you all.**


	4. H2Oh No!

**Hello Ranger Fans! I know I said about every week, but I kind of got writer's' block for a little. I'm not completely happy with this chapter, so I may come back and edit it later.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers. If I did, I would pay Japan to produce the footage for this story so this could be real.**

**Power Rangers Olympian Force Chapter 4: H2Oh No!**

"Give it up, Gryphon!" Jay shouted as he and the other Rangers lept from a rooftop to the next. The Gryphon he was shouting at was a humanoid in bronze armor with giant wings. A roaring lion-face design disguised his identity from the world. He had been attacking the streets when the Olympian Rangers had shown up, and given chase.

"At the velocity he's going at, added to the head start he already had… I calculate the chances of us catching him at about… .5% chance." Mera noted as she continued her sprint, "We need a new plan."

"What do you say, oh fearless leader?" Nate asked as he maintained his speed ahead of the others, "Do you have a plan, or will you get us surrounded and outmatch again like last time?"

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking…" Jay said as he took the lead from Nate, "maybe if… Valerie, prepare your bow! I have an idea!"

"Love Bow!" Valerie called out as her bow appeared in her hands as she maintained her pace, "now what?"

"Try shooting my sword at him, Lightning Sword!" Jay shouted as the sparking weapon appeared in his hand before he tossed it to Valerie as she nocked it in her bow.

"Lightning Bow Strike!" Valerie and Jay shouted as the sword went flying through the air and flew a few hundred yards, but still landed short. Jay grabbed his sword as he ran past.

"We have to run out of roofs eventually," Victor remarked.

"He has wings, remember?" Nate responded, "duh!"

"We're losing him!" Valerie shouted as Gryphon started to flap his wings and rise from the updraft of air.

"Guess I'll have to do it myself! Ocean Trident!" Nate shouted as he lugged back his arm and hurled his trident right into the Gryphon's right wing, causing him to crash back down onto the concrete rooftop.

"Good job, Nate!" Jay congratulated,"you got him!"

Gryphon stood up and pulled the trident out of his wing before flexing it. He found it still worked just fine. He was about to flap his wings and fly away before Jay slashed both off with two sword slashes, causing Gryphon to scream in pain

"I, Gryphon, will remember these injuries, Red Ranger!" he screamed in a deep, beastly voice as he was surrounded in black smoke, before disappearing.

"Red Ranger?" Nate shouted into thin air, "I hit you first, you miserable monster!"

"Jay kind of landed the more important blow," Valerie said as she summoned a door for the Rangers to walk through back to base.

"Now, now," Jay said, "It was a team effort, and…"

"Team effort? If it weren't for me, that armored jerk would have been half way to Angel Grove!" Jay complained as the team stepped through the door and found Hermes waiting for them. They demorphed as Nate continued his rant.

"I'm done playing second fiddle to you, Jay!" Nate said, "I'm the better candidate for leader, and I'm taking control of this team!"

"You're joking, right?" Jay asked,"You can't possibly think you could lead better than me."

"Let's fight for it!" Nate shouted

"You want to fight for leadership?" Jay asked, "We don't have to. I will let you lead the team for one day. We'll see how you do."

The next day, after classes were done, Nate began his new training regiment. He started with giving them 50 pushups.

"48,49,50!" he said as he stood above them, not participating at all.

"Ow!" Valerie said as she held her right arm, "I was done after 20, much less 50."

"Alright, jumping jacks! Let's go!" Nate commanded.

After 50 jumping jacks, Valerie was prone on the ground, Jay was holding onto the wall trying to catch his breath, Victor was drinking water and Mera was steaming mad.

"I wouldn't mind doing all of this exercise if you would join in!" she shouted.

"Why would I?" Nate said, "I'm the leader now. That puts me above you. Now, let's go to the school track and run a mile!"

The other teens just groaned in response. This was going to be a loooong training session.

* * *

Hades looked into his blue flamed brazier as he watched the Rangers running on the school track.

"The Rangers look exhausted after all of that running. Looks like the perfect time to attack. Gryphon!" he shouted.

The bronze villain appeared in a puff of black smoke. "You called, my master?" he said as he kneeled before the King of the Underworld.

"I want you to distract the Rangers while I prepare a monster for a sneak attack. Take some Spartoi with you, and do not fail me!"

"Yes, milord," Gryphon said as he stood up, "I shall defeat the red Ranger first! Then the others will fall!"

He turned around and vanished into the smoke he once again created.

* * *

"One more lap!" Nate yelled from his seat on the bleachers as he watch the other Rangers continue to run.

"So….tired…" Jay said as he shifted to a slumped walk, "need...rest."

"This is ridiculous!" Valerie shouted up to Nate, "we've ran for the last hour. I don't know how much more the rest of us can take!"

"Do you think fighting monsters is a cakewalk? We need to stay in shape! Quit whining and get running!" Nate retorted.

To the surprise of all of the teens, the Gryphon flew right above Jay and tackled him to the ground before pulling out his sword.

"The Red Ranger is no more!" he said as he was about to bring his saber down into Jay, before Victor came barreling in with a shoulder charge. Gryphon was sent tumbling to the ground.

"Spartoi! Attack!" Gryphon yelled as he stood up and raised his sword. A portal appeared above his sword, and Spartoi jumped out before drawing the swords they now had.

"We can't handle swords unmorphed…" Jay started to say before Nate declared his plan as the new leader.

"Attack!" he shouted as he charged at the Spartoi head-on.

"Are you insane?" Jay shouted, "I am not fighting them unmorphed. It's morphing time!"

The other Rangers ran up next to him and activated their morphers.

"Fine!" Nate said as he quickly backtracked back to the group, "but I get to say it: It's morphing time!"

"Pink Olympian Power!"

"Yellow Olympian Power!"

"Black Olympian Power!"

"Red Olympian Power!"

"Blue Olympian Power!"

The Rangers were surrounded in a flash of colored light, and were about to start the roll call when Nate shouted, "Now we can attack!"

He charged into battle, summoning his trident as he ran. The others shrugged and ran in behind him, summoning their weapons as they ran.

Mera stabbed her spear into one of the holes of the ribcage of one Spartoi and threw it up in the air for Jay to slash with his sword as he soared through the sky like an eagle before finally succumbing to gravity.

Nate ripped a sword from a Spartoi's grasp with his trident before stabbing it quickly in the head. He ran towards his next objective: Gryphon, who had chosen his next target to be the currently landing Red Ranger.

Jay whirled around and blocked the bronze sword with his own sword, forcing the two to push their blades towards each other, with each one trying to get the upper hand. Gryphon quickly disarmed the less skilled Ranger, and was about to slice him right before Nate stabbed him in the wing again in the exact same spot as before.

Gryphon dropped his sword in surprise, giving Jay the opening he needed to roundhouse kick him in the right side, knocking him to the left. Nate pulled out his trident as the armored warrior tumbled to the bleachers, where Victor had smashed some Spartoi together, and made them disintegrate into one another.

With the Spartoi defeated and Gryphon prone on the ground, the Rangers regrouped in front of their defeated foe.

"What should we do with him?" Valerie asked.

"We cannot bring him into base with us," Mera said, "but we don't have many options besides leaving him."

"What's to stop him from attacking us as we leave?" Victor asked.

"Well, I think…" Jay began before Nate cut him off.

"It doesn't matter what any of you think. As leader, I think we should just destroy him now," Nate said, "he can't attack us again if he isn't around _to_ attack us."

The others gave him death glares through their helmets.

"I can take the training. I can somewhat take the 'holier than thou' approach. But I will not accept my decision being considered useless," Mera said, "now, someone needs to knock you off your high horse and…"

She couldn't finish her sentence before a vortex of water swallowed her up from under her. As they looked around frantically, Victor and Valerie were sucked up by a water vortex, leaving just Nate and Jay standing. They turned around to see a green monster with a scaly body, no armor of any kind and an arm that looked like a sea monster head, which was currently sucking up the last of the other three Rangers in a whirlpool of water.

"Mmmm, tasty!" it said as Gryphon teleported with his signature smoke next to it.

"I would like to introduce you two to Charybdis," he said, "she like to eat objects and people with her whirlpool creating abilities. She has eaten your friends, and she'll eat you too!"

Charybdis pointed her "mouth" at the ground and let out a vortex of water into the dirt. Jay and Nate jumped out of the way as the vortex shot out of the ground at where they just were. As Nate ran towards the two monsters, Jay grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the monsters.

"We need to regroup!" Jay shouted over the slowly growing whirlpool. When Nate shook his head, Jay dropped his head in defeat. "For the record, I think this is a bad idea!" he shouted as he and Nate ran around the whirlpool to face it's source.

"Ocean Trident!"

"Lightning Sword!"

The two charged at the scaly monster and slashed or stabbed their weapons. It had no visible effect, as if some invisible force was protecting the beast from harm.

"Fools! I can use my whirlpool abilities for defense as well! I have a small water 'suit of armor' on at all times!" Charybdis roared in a gravelly yet feminine voice.

"That gives me an idea!" Jay shouted over the ever-growing and roaring whirlpool, "may I suggest something? Or will you just automatically shut it down?"

"Go ahead!" Nate shouted.

"Let's retreat a little bit and I'll tell you my plan!"

The two began to run away from the battle before Gryphon flapped his wings and soared over them to block their escape.

"There will be no retreats this time," he said, "that's how you beat the Minotaur. You see, we learn quickly. Every trick you use will be a trick you cannot pull off another time!"

"You talk too much," Nate said as he punched Gryphon in the helmet so hard it sent him tumbling again. The two continued their mini retreat until there was the entire track length between them and the whirlpool, with Gryphon prone in the center.

"Two things, 1) We are beating Gryphon way too easily, and 2) which one of us can counter him and which can beat Charybdis?" Nate asked.

"We don't have to divide the battle, if we can just put aside our differences. Why did you decide you would be the better leader?" Jay asked in return.

"Because I thought that I was better than you, I was stronger, faster, more agile. I thought that was all it was about. Plus, I thought I was the more popular choice. We never really voted, you became leader because you wore red."

"Being a leader is more than who is more athletic, or who the most popular choice is,or even the color of the Ranger. It's mostly about being able to accept other people's ideas. It's about knowing everyone's strengths and weaknesses, and planning accordingly. I let you lead the team because I wanted you to learn that. The question is, have you?" Jay asked his teammate.

Nate stood there for a minute, contemplating what Jay had just said before nodded his head.

"I guess I have," he said, "now what was your plan?"

"Water conducts electricity, and she's wearing 'water armor', so what if I summon a lightning attack?"

"Let's find out!" Nate said, "attack!"

The two charged back at Charybdis and around the still growing whirlpool as Jay raised his sword to the sky. The sky darkened as thunder clapped and lightning cut across the sky. A bolt of red lightning struck Jay's Lightning Sword as he quickly slashed it down into the monster. Red lightning coursed through Charybdis as the sword slashed through her. She cried out in pain as the two Rangers posed in front of her exploding body.

The whirlpool splutter and slowly shrank down before spitting out the other three Rangers, who landed on the ground and looked around disoriented for a minute.

"What just happened?" Valerie asked in confusion.

"Where are we?" Victor asked.

"Is Nate still going to be the leader?" Mera asked.

Jay and Nate ran up to their friends and helped pull them up. Valerie stumbled and fell into Jay. Both were glad they had their helmets on to hide their blushes as they stepped away from each other.

"No, I'm giving control back to Jay," Nate said, "I've learned that being a leader is more complicated than I thought. He's more qualified to lead than I am, and I'm sorry for ignoring your suggestions. One has to lead by example, and Jay can do that well."

The remains of Charybdis were surrounded by a blue flame circle as they pieced themselves back together before she grew to several stories tall.

"May I?" Nate asked.

"Go ahead," Jay replied.

"We need the Zords!" Jay shouted into his communicator in his helmet.

"On their way!" Hermes said as he clicked a few buttons on the rune keyboard.

In the distance, the Rangers could see their Zords running or flying towards them. The Rangers lept and landed in the cockpit before inserting their Olympian Gems.

"Time to form the Megazord!" Jay ordered before, to his surprise, the console began to glow with a blue light.

"Rangers," Hermes announced, "because of Nate's new improved trust in the team, you have unlocked a new mode for the Megazord."

On the dial where the zord modes were, a new selection appeared labeled "CENTAUR MODE".

Jay grinned under his helmet, "let's try this out! Activate Olympian Megazord: Centaur Mode!"

"Right!" the other Rangers responded, with Nate the loudest of all. All five Rangers turned their dials to the correct mode.

The Horse Zord was first, as it ran forward and had the head move into a chest cavity before closing up.

The Bull Zord was next, as it's head came off before the legs folded into the body. The entire Bull Zord then landed on the Horse Zord as the bodies clicked into place

Next came the Owl Zord. As its head detached from the body and the body detached from the wings, the wings clipped onto the sides of the Eagle Zord and expanded, forming the arms.

The Eagle Zord was next. As its wings clipped off together in one long arc-shaped piece and it's legs slid into its body before it connected to the Horse Zord and Owl Zord, it was now forming the entire body of the combination. The Eagle Zord head screeched and opened up it's mouth to fit the other side of the Owl Zord's head into it, revealing a different robotic face.

The Fish Zord clipped onto the back after folding a bit to form the quiver, with the dorsal fin splitting into "arrows". The Eagle Zord's wings went into the Megazord's left hand to create a bow.

"Olympian Megazord: Centaur Mode! Ready!" the Rangers shouted as they met up in the central cockpit. Jay was in the front with Nate diagonally to his right, Victor diagonally on his left, Valerie diagonally behind Nate and Mera diagonally behind Victor

Charybdis opened her "mouth" and launched a vertical water vortex blast at the Megazord but, due to its four legs, the Megazord was able to gallop out of the way and launch an arrow from it's bow at the monster's head-arm. It had no effect on the green beast.

"What do we do?" Valerie asked.'

"It's time to pull out our secret weapon!" Nate said as he pulled a lever to the red setting.

"Activate Lightning Arrow!" Nate and Jay announced as a sparking arrow was placed into the bow as the Megazord slowly pulled back the bow. As Charybdis charged, the Megazord released the arrow. Electricity coursed through the monster again as she fell to the ground, before quickly getting back up.

"Nice try, Rangers!" she cackled, "but that won't work this time!"

"I have an idea!" Nate exclaimed.

"What is it?" Jay asked.

"My lever has five colors, so let's try a different elemental arrow, I think we should try the blue one."

"Let's give it a shot!" Jay said as Nate pulled the lever to the blue setting.

"Typhoon Arrow!" the Rangers shouted as a small whirlpool appeared around the Megazord before the Megazord placed the point of an arrow into it. As the Megazord raised the arrow, the whirlpool shrank to fit around the tip as the Megazord pulled back the bowstring as it galloped away from Charybdis to avoid her strikes. As soon as the arrow was pulled all the way back, the Megazord released the arrow and the whirlpool followed. As the arrow struck Charybdis, the whirlpool turned into a huge spiral that threw Charybdis into the air before causing her to crash to the ground. The Megazord posed in front of the monster as she exploded.

* * *

"My lord," Gryphon said as he kneeled in front of Hades' throne, "I have failed you."

"I know," Hades growled, "and what do you plan on doing to correct that?"

"Well, where Charybdis failed, maybe her sister can succeed," Gryphon said as a purple monster stepped out of the shadows. She had 3 long neck and three heads to go with it, and where her arms should have been were long necks and heads as well.

"I, Scylla, will defeat the blue Ranger for you!" she roared through her main head.

"Shall I send her now while they are unprepared?" Gryphon asked.

"No, revenge is a powerful motivator," Hades said, "let's save her for later. If this battle of good and evil is a game of chess, I want to keep my advanced pieces a secret for now."

"As you command," Gryphon and Scylla said as they bowed before disappearing in a puff of black smoke.

"Next time, I will target a different weakness!" Hades shouted out to no one in particular. Persephone turned away from her husband with a look of worry on her face.

"Fight hard, Rangers," she said, "and prepare…"

* * *

The demorphed Rangers stepped through the doors and found themselves back in the temple. As soon as everyone stepped through and the doors closed, Nate cleared his throat. The other Rangers turned to look towards him.

"I just wanted to apologize to everyone for the way I acted. I may not be leader anymore, but that doesn't mean the lessons I learned are gone. I know now that Jay deserves to be lead because he doesn't think himself above us, and actually listens to our ideas. I also learned that, as a member of the team, I should do the same."

The other Rangers clapped.

"We knew you would learn eventually," Valerie said.

"Hey, Hermes?" Nate asked, "why didn't you try to teach me those lessons to me earlier? Like when I was forcing the others to train?"

"I am not your only teacher," Hermes explained, "there are some things we must learn for ourselves. You learned the consequences of your actions, and in a way, you taught yourself."

"Now that that's cleared up, who's ready for training?" Jay asked.

All of the other teens gave him death glares.

"Is it something I said?" Jay asked.

**Reviews are nice! Until next time, may the power protect you!**


	5. Turning Heads

I** don't own Power Rangers! (Seems obvious, but I still think it's important to say.)**

**No real Author Notes this time. Time to just jump right in!**

**Power Rangers Olympian Force Chapter 5: Turning Heads**

"Let's see..." Valerie Onasis said as she sat down on her bed. Her bedroom was about the size of a normal living room, and her voice echoed a little as she spoke. The pink comforter matched the pink walls and the pink streaks in her hair. She pulled out her weekly planner and a pen and started to write.

"Tomorrow I have dance team right after school, then the drama club has rehearsal from 4-6, then I have to help the softball team, and then I get home at… 8pm to work on homework," she said while she wrote it all down. She fell down onto the mattress and sighed, "so where do I have time for my Ranger duties?"

"Valerie," her mother said as he knocked on the door before coming in, "don't forget that we have the party tomorrow night at 5:00 for my friend's son."

Valerie groaned as she rolled over onto her stomach and put her pillow over her head, "how am I going to do this?"

* * *

It was the next day when Valerie had to explain everything to the rest of the team.

"What do you mean you can't train with us?" Nate said while he sat down at the table.

"Exactly what it sounds like," Valerie answered, sitting down next to him as she did, "I have too much to do already, not to mention this stupid party I have to go to. My family has their reputation as one of the richest families in Olympia Hills, so we meet and greet with other rich families often. I never enjoy it, though."

"It's Friday, though," Jay said as he took a bite out of a chicken tender before spitting it back out, "Hot! Hot! Hot!" He took a sip of water before continuing, "we were going to see the latest Space Adventure movie tonight. You sure you can't come?"

"My dad would kill me if I left early, and I couldn't go anyway with all of the clubs I was supposed to have, I already have to leave one early and cut the other one entirely."

"That is very unfortunate," Mera said, "but I suppose you must do what you must."

"Just try not to over do it," Victor said.

"Thanks for understanding, guys," Valerie said, "I promise that we can train this weekend."

Hades grinned as he looked at the fire-projected form of Valerie as she spoke to the other teens.

"I believe I have found my next target," he said to his queen, "I shall attack the Pink Ranger next. If I can force her to leave the party to help her friends, her mother will break her spirit for me! Her punishment will cause her to be unable to help the other Rangers!"

"My lord," Persephone said, she turned to her husband before continuing, "do you really think you should use a mother's punishment as a weapon? It seems a bit...beneath you."

"I swore to win by any means necessary if I want to rule the land of the living, which means no plan or weapon is too small. I'll do what I have to to separate the Rangers. United they stand, but if they are divided...they fall! Gryphon!"

He dipped his hand into the blue flame in the brazier and formed a ball from it. He threw it to create a portal to Tartarus as Gryphon slipped out of the shadows.

"My lord?" he asked, kneeling on one knee in front of his master.

"I need the Hydra, now!" Hades ordered.

"As you command!" Gryphon said, he soared through the portal before dragging back a black lizard on all fours, about the size of a large dog with spines on its back, a mouth full of sharp teeth and glowing red eyes. It roared and snarled as Gryphon held it on a leash made of blue flame.

"It's a lot smaller than I imagined," Persephone said bluntly, "are you sure this is the right creature?"

"Of course it is the right creature!" Hades said over the beast snarling at the three beings around it, "the Hydra has many surprises for the Rangers, and one is its appearance. Now, Gryphon. Wait for my signal to unleash it, we must wait for the Pink Ranger to be unprepared, and then…we will strike!

* * *

"Valerie, if you don't hurry up we'll be late!" Valerie's father shouted up the stairs as Valerie fumbled around with her dress. The dress was a dark pink-purple, and was form-fitting, as well as...

"This dress is so uncomfortable!" Valerie complained before she finally pulled the last strap over her shoulder, "I feel like I'm going to suffocate!"

Her mother knocked before walking in.

"Don't you look nice!" her mother said as she handed Valerie a hair band, "but you'll look much better if we cover those pink streaks in your hair and make you more presentable."

Her mother tied Valerie's hair back in such a way that the pink streaks in her hair were covered by the black parts of her hair while also giving her a ponytail.

"Much better," her mother said, "now let's go to the limo and get to the party."

As Valerie and her parents walked from her mansion to the limo, she tripped on the steps with her high heels.

"I hate these things," Valerie said while picking herself up off the ground, "all I do is trip in them."

"Come on, Valerie," her father said as he got into the limo, "the Onasis family has a reputation to uphold, so we can't be late!"

Valerie quickly got into the limo after her mother as the chauffeur closed the door behind her before going to the driver's seat and pulling away.

"Now, Valerie," her mother said, "I want you to act as a member of our family should. You should know that we…"

Valerie drowned her mother out, instead she thought about her friends.

'I wonder how they're doing without me,' she thought, her mother continuing her rant.

* * *

Jay tapped his foot as he looked at his watch. It was five minutes to 5:00, and the previews would start soon. Meanwhile, he was stuck waiting for his friends in front of the theater.

"A movie starting at 5:00 does not mean you should show up at 4:55," Jay said before glancing at his watch again, "make that 4:56."

He looked up again to see the other three teens walking towards him.

"Sorry we're late," Victor said, "but Nate showed up at 4:45, and we were 10 minutes away."

"We may have pre-ordered tickets," Mera said, "but I still would rather show up early than be perfectly punctual."

"What she's basically saying, " Jay explained to Victor while they walked into the theater, "is that she wants to be early, not on time."

They were about to scan their tickets when their morphers sounded off.

"Sorry, we've got to take this," Jay said before the four teens backed away from the confused worker. They quickly ran back outside and into the adjacent alley.

"What's up?" Nate asked.

"I've got the Hydra attacking a construction site, and it's three blocks from your location," Hermes responded while typing on his giant mosaic computer.

"Guess the movie has to wait," Jay sighed before he crossed his arms, "ready?"

The others nodded as they did the same,"ready!"

"Yellow Olympian Power!"

"Black Olympian Power!"

"Blue Olympian Power!"

"Red Olympian Power!"

There was a flash of light as the Rangers morphed before they leapt up to the fire escape, then they leapt to the next one and continued the pattern until they reached the roof of the building. They began to run to the direction of the construction site as the screams of terror filled their ears.

* * *

The limo pulled up in front of the mansion as Valerie mentally prepared herself for the torture that would follow. The chauffeur opened the door and the Onasis family stepped out. They walked up the steps, Valerie's mother still continuing her speech.

"...and so I expect you to act like a Onasis. We didn't work hard to make a fortune so you could deny it."

Valerie sighed, 'I just want to be like my friends,' she thought, 'not a rich kid with standards she doesn't want to deal with.'

Two servants held open the double doors for Valerie and her family as they walked into the mansion. There was a piano player currently on stage along with a band, playing a slower song for the guest to dance to, as well as circular tables around the dance floor for guests to rest their feet when they were done. Valerie hardly got to look around for a second before she was grabbed by the hand by her mother and dragged to some man with a teenage kid standing next to him. They were each in a black suit and had a red tie with a golden emblem on it. The older man appeared to be finishing a story before Valerie was dragged to stand in front of the man.

"And I said, 'where do you think this is? Silver Hills? Do I look like a Collins to you?'" the man asked as all of the older people laughed, while the teenage boy and Valerie just looked uncomfortable.

"Thomas," Valerie's mother said as she shook the man's hand.

"Susan," the man said as he returned the shake, "and I assume this is Valerie?"

"Hi," Valerie said quickly. She looked around just as quick, trying to find a way out of this conversation.

"This is my son, Adrian," the man said as he slightly pushed Adrian forward, "why don't you two dance while we talk?"

Both teens look as each other awkwardly before Adrian led Valerie to the dance floor and began to dance to the beat.

"Let me guess. Your mother made you come?" Adrian asked, a couple of people pushing around the two.

"How'd you guess?" Valerie said as she got jostled a bit by the people next to her.

"You look like a prisoner planning an escape," he responded as the music changed to a slightly more high-paced style, with the two following everyone else's new pace.

"Fair enough, "Valerie admitted, "but you don't look too pleased to be at your own party."

"I'm not," Adrian said, "I really just wanted a small get together with my friends but my parents said…"

"Your family had a reputation to uphold?" Valerie finished.

"Exactly!" Adrian said as the two stopped dancing and began to laugh.

As their laughter died down, Valerie and Adrian walked towards a table, still talking.

"But in the end," Adrian continued, "he said we could just have two parties, this one and a smaller one."

"So one with people you know and one where you don't know anyone?" Valerie joked as the two began to laugh again.

'Maybe this won't be so bad.' Valerie thought.

* * *

"This is going pretty bad!" Nate said as he was slammed into a girder before Jay helped him into a standing position.

The Rangers had shown up at the construction site to find the Hydra eating anything it could sink its teeth into, and it's neck was growing longer and longer as it's body grew larger and larger the more the beast ate. The Hydra was now as larger as a car, with a neck and head like a wrecking ball, bowling over whatever it hit. Nate had been trying to leap onto the monster when he had been launched back.

"I'm going to end this before anyone gets hurt!" Jay said. He prepared to leap, but his concentration was interrupted with the laughter of a villainous sort.

"Gryphon," Jay said. He summoned his sword.

"Red Ranger!" Gryphon announced as he floated above the Hydra, "I challenge you to one on one combat, and this is an offer you can't refuse!" he roared before creating a glowing blue-flamed portal in front of the Hydra. With a shout, dozens of Spartoi ran out and attacked the three other Rangers. Gryphon swooped down to attack Jay, leaving the Hydra to continue it's rampage unopposed.

Spartoi followed Mera as she ran up the ramp to the uncompleted second floor of the building. As one ran forward ahead of the rest, it tripped over the spear stabbed into a sandbag at knee height. Mera came swinging on a rope through the air to double kick the Spartoi in the chest, sending him flying over the other Spartoi, who were smart enough to duck, and off the building to the dusty ground below. She landed on both feet and grabbed her spear, before using the leverage the spear provided to hurl the sandbag at the Spartoi, who didn't duck this time. The entire hoard of them fell down to the ground below.

Nate ducked around a girder as a Spartoi swung it's sword at him, causing it to be stuck in the metal bar. Nate grinned under his helmet as he kicked the minion into a group of others, causing them to all bowl over.

Victor picked up an unchained wrecking ball and threw it in the air before summoning his hammer to hit it straight into the group of Spartoi, causing them to scatter into little boney pieces.

Jay and Gryphon were locked in a very even sword duel. Each blocked the others thrusts with a parry, and each slash with a perfectly timed block. Jay flipped away and raised his sword to the sky, summoning a bolt of lightning, before redirecting the bolt to his bronze covered adversary. Gryphon screamed in pain before lifting his smoking body from the ground and limping over to the Hydra.

"This isn't over, Rangers!" he snarled as he pulled out a golden apple.

"Uh...I've heard of golden delicious apples, but that apple is literally gold!" Nate said.

"One golden apple should give you the strength to defeat the Rangers!" Gryphon yelled before throwing the apple up in the air and into the Hydra's mouth. The monster grew to the size of a large bus.

"Best of luck, Rangers," Gryphon said sarcastically as he disappeared in his signature black smoke.

The Rangers looked in horror as the Hydra continued it's rampage.

"I've got this!" Nate said as he jumped towards the Hydra before stabbing it clean through the throat with his quickly summoned trident. Nate landed as the head fell to the ground before the neck began to glow before growing a new head and splitting into two identical heads.

"Uh oh," Nate said as he turned around, "now we have two heads to deal with!"

"I would have told you that, but I thought you had heard of the Hydra before!" Jay shouted, "any time you cut off one head, two more take its place!"

"Now you tell me," Nate said.

"Hercules defeated the Hydra by cutting off it's head and lighting the neck on fire," Mera thought out loud, "but I bet lightning will do the trick too!"

Jay raised his sword to the sky again as lightning struck the metal blade before he jumped and slashed both heads off with a single strike. The heads crashed to the ground as he landed in a crouch. He turned around to see the fire on the necks go out as the necks glowed and split so there was now four heads.

"Yeah, that didn't work either!" Jay shouted while the Rangers regrouped once again.

"Maybe the Olympian Crossbow will defeat it?" Victor suggested.

"We can't build it without Valerie," Jay said, "So I guess we have to call her."

"Are you sure we should?" Mera asked, "is it wise to do so?"

"We don't have a choice," Jay said, "this monster will eat the city if we don't stop it!"

* * *

'Which school do you go to?" Valerie asked. She had been continuing the conversation with Adrian for about an hour now, and had found out how much they had in common.

"I go to Olympia Hills Prep," Adrian responded, "but I would rather go to Olympia Hills High."

"That is so funny!" Valerie said, " because I go there right now."

The two continued to talk before Valerie's morpher sounded off.

"Sorry," Valerie said, "I have to take this."

She got up to leave, but her mother came up behind her. She grabbed Valerie by the shoulder as she prepared to walk out.

"Going somewhere?" she asked in a stern voice.

"Yes, mom," Valerie said as she moved her mother's hand off her shoulder, "my friends need my help with something, and I can't let them down."

"While I respect you for wanting to aid your friends," her mother said, "I think we need to talk about these friends of yours. They're too...middle class. Look at how well you get along with Adrian! Can't you see how he'll be a better influence on you? Much better than your commoner friends."

"Excuse me?" Valerie said as she tried unsuccessfully to not fly into a rage, "those are my friends, you can't just insult them!"

"I just want you to make better choices…"

"I'm about to make a great choice: I'm done. You can't make me something I'm not!" she shouted as she let her hair down to show the pink streaks to everyone in the party. She continued by kicking off her high heels as everyone around them began to whisper and point.

Valerie stormed out, an aura of pure rage around her. She reached the steps and was about to run away when a limo pulled up. The door opened to reveal the most beautiful woman Valerie had ever seen. The woman was wearing a revealing golden dress with a black belt. She stepped out of the vehicle and closed the door behind her before noticing and then walking up to Valerie.

"What's the matter, honey?" she asked.

"I just… family issues." Valerie explained briefly, "look, I've got somewhere I really need to be."

"Just one piece of advice," the woman said, "as someone with a crazy family, I know how frustrating they can be. You just have to remember that they do love you no matter what, and love can solve any problem."

"Thanks," Valerie said sarcastically before running down the street..

"No problem sweetheart!" the woman cheerfully said as she pressed on one of her earings, "Hey Herm! I just talked to Valerie, and gave her some advice, tell them that she's on her way! No, it was no problem at all! We're all here to help, when they need it most."

Her eyes changed from brown to blue and her hair changed from brunette to blonde in the blink of an eye. Two servants opened the doors for her and she stepped through.

"Uh huh, bye bye!" she finished before the doors closed behind her, "now who's ready to party?"

'Time to find the twins,' she though as the gold and silver gems on her belt began to shine.

* * *

Valerie looked around the street quickly as she ran down it.

'Completely deserted', she thought before shouting, "It's morphing time! Pink Olympian Power!"

In a flash of pink-colored light, Valerie's form was replaced by the Pink Ranger as she continued her run down the road. She soon arrived at the construction site, just as the four Hydra heads slammed the other four Rangers into a wall. Valerie offered a hand to Jay and helped pull him up.

"I skip out on one fight," Valerie joked, "and this is what happens?"

"We were just weakening him for you," Jay said. He moved over to Mera and helped pull her up before aiding the others.

"We need to form the Olympian Crossbow!" Victor shouted as the Hydra roared at the 5 Rangers.

"Let me take the lead for this one," Valerie said.

"Sure," Jay responded.

The Rangers summoned their weapons and created the Olympian Crossbow, but with Valerie and Jay swapping places so that Valerie was at the trigger and Jay was supporting it. Valerie infused the Lightning Sword with some of her power as she prepared to fire.

"Heart Attack! Fire!" Valerie shouted. The sword was launched from the bowstring into the the Hydra's chest before sending out an pink energy charge that caused the monster to scream out in pain before falling to the ground, dead. The remains of the monster blew up in a large cloud of fire and ash.

"Did we just stop it's heart, then blow it up?" Nate asked as the Rangers sent their weapons away.

"We just struck it from the inside," Mera realized, "the one place it couldn't regenerate."

"I have no idea how it exactly works," Valerie said, "but a woman told me the power of love could solve any problem, so I decided to take the advice literally."

"Looks like it worked," Victor observed.

There was a roar behind them, and the Rangers turned around to find that Hades had healed the monster and made it grow to giant size.

"We need the Zords!" Valerie shouted into her communicator in her helmet.

"On their way," Hermes said as he hit a few rune-keys.

The Rangers looked up to see the Eagle and Owl Zords flying past with the Fish Zord in the Eagle's talons and the Horse and Bull Zords galloping and stomping respectively to the Ranger's location.

The Rangers jumped in to their respective Zords and inserted the Olympian Gems.

"All Rangers report in and prepare to switch to Warrior Mode!" Jay shouted as he turned the knob to the correct setting.

"This is Nate, ready to kick Hydra butt!"

"Mera here, all systems are go!"

"This is Victor, and I am ready!"

"Valerie here, prepared to save the day!"

All of the Rangers turned their knobs to "WARRIOR MODE" and the Zords began to transform.

The Bull Zord was the first to change, as the head came off, the body split apart and the legs flipped around 180ᣞ and the front and back legs combined.

The Horse Zord was next, as it's head went into a chest cavity while the front and back legs combined together and connected to the Bull Zord legs, forming a complete waist, legs and feet.

The Eagle Zord was next. As its wings clipped off together in one long arc-shaped piece and it's legs slid into its body before it connected to the Horse Zord, it was now forming the entire body of the combination. The Eagle Zord head screeched and opened up it's mouth to fit the other side of the Bull Zord's head into it, revealing a robotic face.

Next came the Owl Zord. As its head detached from the body and the body detached from the wings, the wings clipped onto the sides of the Eagle Zord and expanded, forming the arms.

Lastly was the Fish Zord. As the entire dorsal fin and tail came off, it popped open completely in half before coming onto the Eagle Zord's body as a chestplate and combining together again. The tail folded into a plume that went onto the Eagle Zord's head to complete the helmet look. The horns from the Bull Zord head attached together and became a straight point before combining with the dorsal fin to create a large spear that went into the left hand. The Owl Zord body lengthened itself a bit before the head slid into a hole in the center, finishing the shield, which went on the right arm.

"Olympian Megazord: Warrior Mode ready!" all five Rangers shouted as they all joined together in a single cockpit. Jay was in the front with Nate diagonally to his right, Victor diagonally on his left, Valerie diagonally behind Nate and Mera diagonally behind Victor.

The Hydra roared in response and opened it's mouths. Out of the mouths came shots of acid that the Megazord blocked with it's shield before smacking the Hydra with the butt of it's spear.

"I don't know how we beat this!" Nate shouted, "if we try to take it's heads off, it'll just double the problem!"

"Maybe we should be thinking about this a different way," Valerie said, "instead of what we could do to defeat it, maybe we just need to weaken it more first."

"Good thinking!" Jay said while he flicked some switches, "removing weapons!"

The spear and shield came off of the arms and strapped onto the back of the Megazord, leaving it barehanded for some hand-to-head combat. The Megazord threw a left hook on one head, before uppercutting another. As the two hit heads recovered, the other two began to glow and split.

"Uh...we didn't even cut it's heads off, and it's growing more!" Victor shouted as the heads stopped multiplying once there were seven, with the two damaged ones making the head count nine. The damaged ones quickly recovered, and all nine heads roared at the Megazord.

"We just have to keep trying!" Jay shouted as the Megazord sent a flurry of punches to the beast. The monster's heads got hit, just to quickly get up and come back for more. Four of the heads stretched to bite down on the Megazord, one on each limb. The other five heads started to bite at exposed pieces of machinery on the robot. The Rangers screamed as the console room began to spark.

"Systems are going down!" Victor called out, the lights flickering and the control panels blinking.

"Hermes, any sort of aid you can give us?" Jay asked into his communicator in his helmet.

"I've been working on this for a little while now, but I think this is the perfect time to use it. I'm sending a Zord to help." Hermes said as he tapped some keys, "I managed to restore the Peacock Zord."

The Rangers watched as an aqua peacock ran next to and then into the Hydra, before leaping in the air and spinning it's feathers on its back fast enough to create a whirlwind that caused the Hydra to lose its grip and get pushed back.

"Meet the Hera-powered Peacock Zord, Rangers," Hermes said, "I've been slowly researching the ancient Olympian Ranger arsenal, and I've found that there was more than five Rangers. While the Olympian Gems don't appear to have bonded to anyone, we can still access the Zords as they are restored with the power of your own Olympian Gems. Now try combining the Peacock Zord with the Megazord! I'll send one of the Olympian Gems"

An aqua gem appeared in Valerie's hand and she replaced the left pink gem with the aqua gem, "Peacock Zord, combine!" she shouted.

The owl's left wing-arm detached as the Peacock Zord attached itself. The tail feathers split to form a fan-like weapon.

"Olympian Megazord: Warrior Mode with Peacock power!" the Rangers shouted as the Megazord grabbed the shield off it's back and put it on it's right arm. The Hydra showed no fear, and opened it's mouths to spew acid.

"Activate the Peacock Fan!" Jay ordered Valerie. She pressed a few buttons and the fan began to spin, reflecting the acid back at the beast. The Hydra roared in pain as the acid ate away at it's scales and skin. It flopped it's heads down, weakened.

"Time to finish this!" Jay said, "activate Peacock Final Saw Attack!"

The Peacock's feathers began to spin. The Megazord charged forward and used its Peacock arm as a saw to cut the Hydra into small pieces. The monster roared as the Megazord sliced right through it before the Hydra exploded. The Rangers began to cheer before Valerie stood up.

"I need to go back to the party," she said, "and I was wondering if you could come with me. My parents don't think very highly of you, and I want to prove them wrong."

"Of course," Jay said, "let's go."

* * *

The party was still going strong when the teens arrived. The two servants opened the doors for them again before the teens walked inside. The music was more upbeat now, with a saxophone turning the once peaceful dance hall into a jazz-styled club. Valerie looked around, but the mysterious woman from before was gone. She did, however, find her mother. She was talking to the man, Adrian's father, from before, and she didn't sound happy.

"Tell me, Thomas," she said, "how do I deal with my rebellious daughter?"

"You just need to find a compromise," Adrian's father said, "for instance: my son wanted a smaller private party and as a compromise I said we could just have two parties, the one I wanted, and the one he wanted."

"But your family's honor…?"

"Isn't as important as his happiness," Adrian's father finished.

"I never really thought about it that way before," Valerie's mother said, "I just forced my will on to her. But she found a way to become her own person, and, now that I think about it, I'm proud of that person she has become. We just need to find a compromise between my standards and…"

"And who I am," Valerie finished. Her mother turned around to see Valerie and the other teens all in nicer clothing than usual. Jay was in a polo shirt, Nate in a blue t-shirt, Victor in a black v-neck and Mera in a yellow shirt and a skirt.

"I'm not perfect and I'm not saying I am, " Valerie said, "but I can try to live up to the Onasis legacy, while also being...me. I'm sorry I left earlier. I just got a little angry."

"I'm sorry for making you angry," her mother said, "and even though I didn't know you were listening, I meant every word I said. Let's find a compromise together, please. I don't want you to be unhappy."

"Well, this wrapped up unnaturally well," Nate whispered to Jay as the friends watched Valerie and her mother hug.

"Just be quiet and let them enjoy the moment," Jay whispered back.

Valerie and her mother broke up the hug and Valerie looked back at her friends before looking at her mother again.

"Mom, " she said, "I want to introduce you to my friends. Nate may be hotheaded, but he means well. Victor isn't great socially, but he definitely tries his best. Mera is so smart that we help keep her close to earth. And Jay, well, he's really the glue holding us together. None of us would have met if it weren't for him. I know these aren't the friends you want me to have," she continued, "but these are the friends I have. We've only all known each other a couple of weeks, but I wouldn't trade them for the world."

Valerie's mother looked at them before smiling, "if they make you happy, I think I can find a way to accept them. Now go have fun! This is a party after all!"

The music slowed down, and the teens began to dance. Nate and Mera did a slow dance together, to the shock of the rest of the teens, and Valerie and Adrian slow danced together too.

Victor walked over to Jay, "I thought you liked her," he said, "so why are you letting her dance with that boy?"

"Because she looks happy," Jay said, "and as hard as it is for me to accept, maybe we just aren't a good match."

Valerie and Adrian separated before Valerie walked over to the two and offered Jay her hand.

"Are you just going to stand here, or can we dance?" Valerie asked.

"Scratch that," Jay whispered to Victor as he and Valerie walked over to the dance floor and began to slow dance together.

"Kind of surprised you asked me to dance with you," Jay said, "I thought you and Adrian would be together for a while. You sure you two aren't a couple or something?"

"Not really interested in him," Valerie said.

"Is there someone you are interested in?" Jay asked innocently.

Valerie's mind froze. Should she say something? Or was it too risky?

'Probably too risky,' she thought before answering, "nope, nobody."

Jay's face fell quickly before he recovered, "ok," he said simply to hide his pain.

Adrian sighed, it seemed so obvious to him that the two of them liked each other, but he didn't want to ruin it for his new friend, Valerie. He walked over to the stage, where a girl in a silver dress was standing.

"So, sister," he said, "what do you think of them?"

His sister, Diana, sighed as she crossed her arms, "I don't really care," she snapped, "I don't want to be here anyway."

"But you have to admit the story that woman told was interesting," Adrian said, "what with the gods and the monsters. It's kind of strange she gave us these." He held up the golden stone the woman had had earlier, as Diana raised her palm to reveal the silver one she held.

"Definitely interesting," she said, "these 'Olympian Gems'..."

**So begins the introduction of some new characters. I want to thank JTWAS1994 for the idea of auxiliary zords, and everyone else who had remained a loyal reader! Until next time, may the power protect you!**


	6. The Tangled Web We Weave!

**Note: I don't own Power Rangers, if I did, this would not be in a written format. I may have a bias, but I would watch this if it was real!**

**Here is the long awaited chapter 6. I say "long awaited" but I'm only a week later than I meant to be. Writer's block can be a real pain! Here we go...**

**Power Rangers Olympian Force Chapter 6: The Tangled Web We Weave**

The cool gusts of September had become the brisk winds of October, and Merrida 'Mera' Cadwalader was definitely feeling the difference as she walked through the library to the study rooms before reaching 'O'.

"Guys?" Mera asked as she stepped into the Temple, "where have you been?"

Jay looked away from the file he was reading on the mosaic computer, "just been studying up on my Greek Myths, thought it could be useful if we run into any of these monsters."

Victor didn't even look up from the sword he was forging on the anvil while he hammered the blade flat.

Nate gave out a cry before falling to the ground. Valerie had just kicked him a few yards from their current location of the training mats. Valerie helped pull the prone boy up, and the two walked over to Mera.

"What's up?" Nate asked nonchalantly.

"What's up is that you guys missed studying, the test is on Friday, remember?"

"Test?" Jay asked as he joined the group, "what test?"

"The Calculus test! The one that basically decides the first marking period grade!"

Valerie just heaved a sigh of relief, "so glad I don't have Calc this year!"

"Crap!" Jay yelled as he ran for his school bag while Nate looked unaffected

"Whatever," he said, "not really worried, I'll just wing it."

"Winging it is not a strategy!" Mera shouted.

"What do you mean it's not a strategy?" Nate retorted.

"OK,OK," Valerie said as she stood between the two, "you two are acting like children."

"I thought Hermes would be here," Mera noted as she changed the subject, "where is he?"

"He's off in the Zord bay," Victor said as he put down the hammer and took off the mask, "and I'm going to go join him."

He walked away nervously to one of the many entryways before entering the next room over.

Jay and Mera both grabbed one of Nate's arms each away from the Temple and back to the library.

"But I don't need to study!" Nate shouted as he struggled, "Valerie, back me up here!"

"I'm kind of with them," Valerie responded, "I think it will be helpful for you."

"I've been betrayed!" Nate cried before the other two teens pulled him into the actual study room.

"Let's use this room for it's actual purpose," Mera remarked as she opened up her bag, "now let's talk about sine, cosine and tangent."

"You'll go off on a tangent alright," Nate grumbled before pulling out his notes.

* * *

It had been a few hours, and the school and library were about to close.

"I think that does it for today," Mera said before putting away her notes, "we should meet tomorrow after school."

"Sure," Jay agreed before heading to the door, "I just end in Bio on the other side of the school, so I might be late."

"Fine…" Nate begrudgingly agreed, "I guess we can… if we must."

"Alright, I'll see you guys tomorrow," Mera said as she left the room after Jay, with Nate right behind her.

They all walked out of the school and went their separate ways.

* * *

"I've got it!" Hades shouted, "I know how to defeat the Rangers!"

"How will you accomplish this, my lord?" Persephone asked.

"Divided an enemy falls! I need to divide the Rangers against each other!" Hades cackled.

"You tried that last week, husband," Persephone reminded.

"I tried that strategy on the pink Ranger, now I think if I can cause the Yellow Ranger to lose faith in her teammates then the team will be fractured!"

"And how will you manage to turn the Yellow Ranger against her friends?" Persephone asked.

"If I can slow down the Red Ranger down enough that he is late, then she will doubt him. And she and the Blue Ranger need the smallest nudge to fight each other. The rest will be child's play I just need a monster!"

He placed his hand in the brazier and created a blue-flamed ball before throwing it at the wall to create a portal.

"I summon the stealthy and crafty Arachne to aid me!" Hades shouted as a large black spider-like creature was summoned. It had black hair over it's entire body, 6 arms and 2 legs and 8 red eyes on its face.

"How may I serve you, Master Hades?" she said as she bowed down on one knee.

"I need you to stop the Red Ranger from joining his friends!" Hades ordered.

"As you command," Arachne said as she stepped through the new portal that Hades created.

As the portal closed, a black mist was created next to it. Out of the mist stepped Gryphon.

"My lord, you should have let me fight the Red Ranger! You know how much I wish to see him destroyed!" Gryphon said.

"Exactly," Hades explained, "I need the Red Ranger to survive the fight so the team unity can be fractured. When I need a Ranger destroyed, I will summon you!"

"As you wish," Gryphon grumbled before disappearing into his signature black smoke.

* * *

Jay opened the door and stepped out of the Bio lab. Instead of walking through the building, he decided to walk outside around the school to the library. He opened the door to the outside and found a dozen Spartoi standing in front of him.

"If I wanted to deal with skeletons, I would have just taken Anatomy," he joked as he tossed his back next to the wall and strapped on his morphers.

"Wait," he said before he initiated the morphing call, "the school has cameras! I can't morph!"

"That's a shame," Arachne said as she stepped up from behind the Spartoi, "it'll just make it easier for me to defeat you!"

"I guess I'll have to do this the old fashioned way," Jay said as he rolled up his sleeves before charging at the Spartoi.

He charged and punched one in the face, knocking it back a few feet, before coming in for a sidekick to the gut. The Spartoi just shrugged off the blows and punched Jay right back in the face. The Spartoi waved a buddy over, and the two grabbed an arm each before bringing him to Arachne and forcing him to kneel.

"Do your worst," Jay taunted, "my friends will notice I'm missing."

"I'm counting on it," Arachne said before she opened her mandibles. Out of her mouth came a white sticky thread that quickly wrapped around Jay, eventually encasing him in a cocoon of sorts with only his face free.

"Happy landings Ranger!" Arachne said as she lifted up the cocoon with her six arms and heaved him down the hill.

"WAITTTTTTTTTTTTTT!" Jay shouted as he rolled down the hill.

Arachne turned around to the blue portal that appeared. She stepped through to find Hades quite pleased.

"Good," Hades said, "now we just wait…"

* * *

"Where are they?" Mera asked outside of the library. She had been standing there for almost 20 minutes and neither of her friends had shown up yet. She was getting quite impatient. She finally decided to go and find her friends.

'Logically I need to search for Jay first,' she thought, 'he said he would be late, but he would never be this late. And unlike Nate, I would trust him to show up.'

She exited the library and started her walk to the Bio wing. One long trek later, she found no sign of her missing friend. She looked around quickly before pulling out her morpher.

"Has anyone seen Jay?" she asked into the morpher.

"Nope," Nate said, "I'm sure he's fine, just skipping out on the study session like me."

"We'll talk about that later," Mera growled before Valerie cut in.

"This is Valerie, I haven't seen him. I hope he's ok…"

"Victor calling in, no signs of him at base, Hermes and I have been cleaning off this one Zord, and I think one burst of Olympian Gem energy will activate it!"

"That's...wonderful," Mera said, "that does not really help me, though."

"Sorry," Victor apologized, "just excited."

"If I see him, I will inform you immediately, Mera out," Mera said before opening the outside door to hear yelling.

"Help!" Jay shouted, "I'm stuck in a giant cocoon!"

'I hope that is not some strange metaphor,' Mera thought before running down the hill to check out the source, 'not a metaphor, he is quite literally stuck in a sarcophagus of webbing.'

She grabbed a strand and pulled on it. Her hand quickly became stuck to it. Mera shook off the web and reached into her pocket before pulling out a swiss army knife.

"I will never make fun of you always being prepared again," Jay said as Mera sliced through the first layer of webbing. Before long, Jay had been freed from the webbing and Mera helped him stand up.

"What happened?" Mera asked.

"I got attacked by a giant spider," Jay said.

"Why did you not call me?" Mera asked, a little hurt, "I could have aided you."

"I kind of got overrun," Jay explained, "I swear I would have called you…"

"But you did not," Mera said as she walked away, "I think you do not trust me."

"We're best friends!" Jay yelled before following her.

"Just...give me some space to sort this out," Mera said before disappearing back into the school.

"Mera…" Jay said as he reached out a hand.

* * *

Mera stepped back onto the school library and grabbed her bag from the conference room. She exited the building and went to the bus stop. One bus ride later and she was at the city's public library. This was one of a few places where she felt most safe and secure. Mera entered the building and went to the mythology pulled out one of them and started to read, one of the best ways to help her think and calm down.

"Oh, Athena's birth," a woman said looking over Mera's shoulder, "that's my favorite myth."

"Can I aid you in some way?" Mera asked, confused at who the heck this person was.

"Oh no, I just noticed how upset you looked and wanted to come over to help. I'm a regular here, and I've seen you here before. You usually look so determined, but now you just look sad," the woman said.

"Just having trust issues with a friend and I needed a place to think," Mera explained, wondering why she felt so safe around this person.

"One way to learn is to look into the past," the woman said, "just remember: with friends, you can win any battle." She walked away as Mera took the woman's advice and looked into the past. Her and Jay's past.

* * *

"'ey! Give it back!" a younger Mera said in a much stronger accent. Two boys were tossing her bag into the air over her head. A crowd had gathered, but nobody was helping her out.

"Come on, smart girl," one of the boys said, "you should be able to stop us if you're so smart."

"Yeah!" the other boy said, "you think you're so much better than us, so prove it!"

"I never said I was better than 'ou" she said, "now give me back me bag!"

"You heard her," a young voice said, "knock it off."

A younger Jay stepped out of the crowd. He walked over to one of the boys and put out his hand.

"Give it here," he said simply. The boy looked at him for a moment and then burst out laughing.

"What are you going to do? Call in your Power Ranger friends?" he laughed as he ridiculed the young student.

"I don't need a Power Ranger to stop you," Jay said as he got into a fighting stance. The other boy smirked as he got into a fighting stance as well.

"Teacher!" a student in the crowd yelled before said crowd dispersed. The boys threw the bag at Jay's feet and ran away. Jay picked up the bag and handed it back to Mera.

"Here you go!" Jay said with a smile.

"Thanks," Mera said. She grabbed the bag and started to walk away.

"What's your name?" Jay asked, still grinning.

"Merrida," Mera answered over her shoulder.

"I'm Jason, but you can just call me Jay," Jay said, "Merrida's a kind of hard name to say. There's this character in a comic book named Mera. Can I call you that?"

Mera turned around and walked back to the boy, "sure, but why are 'ou being nice to me? No one has been really nice to me since I got here."

"Because it's the right thing to do," Jay answered simply, "and I believe in always doing the right thing, especially for my friends."

"Is that what we are now, friends?" Mera asked.

"We can if you want to be," Jay answered.

"Sure," Mera said, "now, can 'ou tell me what a Power Ranger is?"

"Can I?" Jay said as the two walked back into the school, "you bet I can!"

* * *

'From there, we only got closer," Mera thought, 'we went through all of the school system together in the same classes, and we became best friends. So why did he not trust me?' She sat there for another minute before continuing, 'maybe he does, maybe he really could not call me.'

She got up and walked to the door, 'I need to go find Jay,' she thought.

She was about to get onto the bus when she heard the screams. Mera ran towards the source and found Arachne flipping over a car.

"I require assistance with a monster by the library," she said into her morpher before running up in front of the monster, "halt!" she shouted, "cease this attack and I may yet yield!"

"Girlie," Arachne said, "I have no idea what you just said, but I don't really care. WIth you in your current emotional state, you'll be an easy target!" With this outburst over, she opened her mandibles and shot a strand of webbing that Mera easily avoided. The monster growled in frustration before shooting out more strands. Mera sidestepped past each one as she inched closer to Arachne.

"'Current emotional state'?" Mera asked, "what is that supposed to mean?"

"You and the Red Ranger aren't really friends at the moment, right?" Arachne pointed out.

"Wrong!" Jay shouted as he and the other Rangers ran up to Mera, "are you alright?" he asked Mera before continuing, "you can't break a strong bond between friends, and with the bond we all have, you and Hades can kiss any plan to split any of us apart goodbye!"

The others nodded in agreement as Jay put out his hand, "Mera, do you want to take the lead?"

"My pleasure," Mera said as the Rangers activated their morphers, "it's morphing time!"

"Pink Olympian Power!"

"Yellow Olympian Power!"

"Black Olympian Power!"

"Blue Olympian Power!"

"Red Olympian Power!"

In a flash of light, the teenagers were replaced by their morphed forms. They then began their role call.

"Aphrodite, goddess of love! Pink Olympian Ranger!"

"Athena, goddess of wisdom! Yellow Olympian Ranger!"

"Hephaestus, god of the forge! Black Olympian Ranger!"

"Poseidon, god of the sea! Blue Olympian Ranger!"

"Zeus, god of lightning! Red Olympian Ranger!"

"Using the powers of the past to protect the future! Power Rangers Olympian Force!"

"Spartoi!" Arachne shouted as a portal appeared behind her. A large group of Spartoi stepped out of the portal and drew their swords.

Each Ranger in response called their personal weapon.

"Love Bow!"

"Battle Spear!"

"Blacksmith Hammer!"

"Ocean Trident!"

"Lightning Sword!"

With a cry, the Rangers charged into the fray. As the other three Rangers dispersed to deal with the random Spartoi, Jay and Mera ran towards Arachne, knocking aside Spartoi in the way.

"'Scuse me, coming through!" Jay joked as he slammed aside a Spartoi with the flat of his blade, "hey, Mera! Need a boost?"

"Sure!" she answered before jumping onto the 'platform' Jay had created with his hands. She flipped in the air and jabbed Arachne with her spear. Arachne cried out in pain as the point was driven into her side. Mera pulled it out and rolled out of the way just as Jay slashed Arachne with his red glowing blade. Mera drew back her spear until it began to glow yellow and she jabbed it straight through the monster. Arachne cried out in pain again as sparks flew around her. All of the Spartoi lay across the battlefield in piles of bones before disintegrating into dust.

"It is time to combine weapons!" Mera shouted. The other Rangers came up to her and nodded in agreement. Arachne looked up to see the Olympian Crossbow pointed at her.

"Time for this spider to swing out of here!" she shouted as she began to run away. The Rangers aimed the Olympian Crossbow in her chosen direction. Mera and Jay had swapped their usual places so that Mera was now firing. She infused her power into the Lightning Sword.

"Ready...aim...fire!" Mera shouted as she pulled the trigger, "Battilian Barrage!" The sword morphed into multiple spears, with each one hitting it's mark. Arachne had just been turned into the world's largest pincushion. She screamed in agony as she crumpled to the ground before exploding in a flash of fire and ash.

As the Rangers began to celebrate, there was a flash of blue light as Arachne's remains was surrounded in blue flame. The pieces recombined back into Arachne before she grew to the size of a skyscraper.

"This spider isn't so itsy bitsy anymore!" Jay shouted into his morpher, "we need the Zords!"

"On their way," Hermes said before pressing some buttons on the mosaic computer. The Rangers looked up to see their Zords charging towards them. They jumped into the cockpit and placed their Olympian Gems into the slots.

"Prepare to change to Warrior Mode!" Jay ordered as he turned the dial to "WARRIOR MODE". The other Rangers quickly followed suit.

"Zords, combine!" Jay shouted as the Zords began to twist and turn.

The Bull Zord was the first to change, as the head came off, the body split apart and the legs flipped around 180ᣞ and the front and back legs combined.

The Horse Zord was next, as it's head went into a chest cavity while the front and back legs combined together and connected to the Bull Zord legs, forming a complete waist, legs and feet.

The Eagle Zord was next. As its wings clipped off together in one long arc-shaped piece and it's legs slid into its body before it connected to the Horse Zord, it was now forming the entire body of the combination. The Eagle Zord head screeched and opened up it's mouth to fit the other side of the Bull Zord's head into it, revealing a robotic face.

Next came the Owl Zord. As its head detached from the body and the body detached from the wings, the wings clipped onto the sides of the Eagle Zord and expanded, forming the arms.

Lastly was the Fish Zord. As the entire dorsal fin and tail came off, it popped open completely in half before coming onto the Eagle Zord's body as a chestplate and combining together again. The tail folded into a plume that went onto the Eagle Zord's head to complete the helmet look. The horns from the Bull Zord head attached together and became a straight point before combining with the dorsal fin to create a large spear that went into the left hand. The Owl Zord body lengthened itself a bit before the head slid into a hole in the center, finishing the shield, which went on the right arm.

"Olympian Megazord: Warrior Mode ready!" all five Rangers shouted as they all joined together in a single cockpit. Jay was in the front with Nate diagonally to his right, Victor diagonally on his left, Valerie diagonally behind Nate and Mera diagonally behind Victor.

Mera looked at her hand in surprise as an orange gem appeared in her hand and began to glow.

"Due to your new-found wisdom, you have restored the Orange Olympian gem and gained the power of Hestia's Donkey Zord!" Hermes announced, "place the gem in the left slot and summon it. It will combine with your Megazord and give it more power!"

"Very well, summoning Donkey Zord!" Mera said as she replaced one of her gems with the orange one. In a flash of orange light, a portal appeared, and out of it charged the Donkey Zord. It had large ears that looked sharp as it clapped them together like scissors.

"Donkey Zord combine!" Mera ordered. The right arm of the Olympian Megazord came off and the Donkey Zord, with its legs folded, replaced it. The ears clapped together to show off how sharp they were.

"Olympian Megazord: Warrior Mode with Donkey power!" the Rangers announced.

"Whatever!" Arachne said as she began to spin her web again. She shot out a large single strand of webbing. Mera flicked a switch on her control panel and the Donkey Zord ears sliced straight through the strand. Arachne had a look of fear on her face as the Rangers moved in for the final blow.

"Donkey Final Scissor Slash!" the Rangers announced before the Megazord did a giant slash with the two ear-blades of the Donkey Zord. Arachne shrieked as she exploded in a cloud of ash for a second time. The Rangers cheered before removing their helmets.

"There's nothing we cannot do when we work together as teammates and friends!" Mera said as she raised her hand to high-five Jay.

"You know it!" Jay said as he matched her high hand with his own before high fiving that turned into a friendly hug.

The two separated and turned to the other Rangers.

"Let's head back to base," Jay said.

* * *

"I'm sorry for assuming that you did not trust me," Mera said, "I just assumed that you would be able to fight off a few Spartoi unmorphed!" she added with a big grin.

"Yeah, come on 'fearless leader'!" Nate said as he gave Jay a few play jabs in the gut.

"Time to get training!" Jay announced.

"Are you not forgetting something?" Mera asked, "the test is coming up tomorrow!"

"Mind training instead of muscle training?" Nate groaned, "do I have to?"

Valerie snuck up behind Nate and shoved him towards Mera, "get going!" she said, "math waits for no man, woman or child!"

"Save me, Victor!" Nate yelled as Mera dragged him back to the study room. Victor just shrugged in response.

Jay sighed as he followed the two, "here we go again…" he said.

**That's it for now. I do have Spring Break next week, so hopefully I can push out a chapter then.**

**Until next time, may the power protect you!**


	7. Order and Chaos

**I DON'T OWN POWER RANGERS! I don't know why I am obsessed with reminding people of this every chapter, but I am.**

**Hey Ranger fans! I'm back with chapter 7, and this chapter begins an arc that I have dubbed "The Dark Order Rises". The original idea came to me after JTWAS1994 suggesting an arc with Echidna and her children. I decided to scrap my original idea for chapter 7, as this was a much better idea for the next few "episodes" and so this chapter was written.**

**I want to just thank JTWAS1994 for both his contribution and reviews, as well as chrisjeal8 and DragonEmperor999 for their reviews as well.**

**That about wraps up my author notes so here we go! **

**Power Rangers Olympian Force Chapter 7-Order and Chaos**

Gryphon paced back and forth in his chambers. The black stones of Hades' throne room continued throughout his castle, preventing any light that managed to enter the Underworld from affecting the king. The large window in front of where Gryphon paced had a view of Cerberus, guard dog of the Underworld, and of the River Styx, the natural barrier to the world of the living.

"I need a way to defeat the Red Ranger…" Gryphon said as he continued to pace.

"Gryphon!" a feminine voice shouted.

Gryphon turned around to see an apparition of a green woman appear before him. She had on a steel-like bra and a snake tail for legs. Her sharp teeth showed through her half opened mouth. Gryphon looked at the figure in shock.

"Mother?" he asked the figure.

The snake-woman nodded, "tell Lord Hades that the rest of the Dark Order is coming to do what you could not."

"What I could… the Rangers are more powerful than we had thought!" Gryphon said, "the Dark Order may not be enough to defeat them!"

Six figures in different colored armor appeared around the snake-woman. Each was based on a different beast. They were, in order, a Dragon, a two headed Dog, a Serpent, a Chimera, an Eagle and a Pig.

"We shall see, son," the woman said, "just tell Hades we will be arriving shortly, and the Ranger problem will be dealt with once and for all."

* * *

Valerie knocked on the door. Jay had invited her over to his house, and she was very nervous. What she didn't know was that upstairs, Jay was just as nervous.

'This is my first time visiting his house,' she thought, 'I wonder why he asked me to come over now? Is he trying to make us more than friends? And what do I think of that? I don't really know..."

'I wonder how this will go,' Jay thought, 'I wish I could be more confident about this. I put on a brave face, but inside I'm terrified. I'm worried about fighting the monsters, and what the others think of me as a leader, and as a person, especially Valerie'

It had been 2 weeks since the last attack from one of Hades' monsters, and the Rangers had found time to become closer to one another. One pair that had become especially close in that time had been Jay and Valerie, even with each worried about what the other might think about every single action they took.

Valerie was about to knock again before the door was opened by a younger teen, probably about 14 or 15 years old. He looked like Jay, but he was slightly taller and had longer hair reaching his shoulder.

He turned around quickly and shouted up the stairs, "Jay! Your girlfriend's here!"

Jay quickly came down the stairs, "she's not my girlfriend! Why does everyone seem to assume that?"

"Probably because you spend so much time with her," the younger teen said, "I see you two spending a lot of time together at school, and you always go somewhere with her after school. Why wouldn't I assume she's your girlfriend?"

"Don't you have video games to go play or something?" Jay asked as he shooed the other boy away, "don't mind my brother," he said to Valerie, "he's just jealous I have friends who are girls."

"I am not!" Jay's brother shouted from the other room.

"Let's head upstairs before he drives us both crazy," Jay said as he gestured to the stairs. Valerie quickly went up the stairs with Jay right behind her.

"My parents aren't home right now," Jay said, "and my brother will be on the computer for hours, so we can talk about Ranger stuff if you want to. First, I wanted to show you this."

He opened the door in front of him to reveal a room with red walls covered in newspaper clippings. Valerie stopped in front of one to read it.

"'Power Rangers Defeat Pig with Spice,'" she read before moving on to another one, "'Interview with Carter Grayson, Lightspeed Red Ranger'. Wow, how many articles do you have?"

"Almost every one I could find. I have everything that is officially Power Ranger related, and some things that might be," Jay said as he pointed to an article on the wall that read "Strange Tears Rip Open Over Silver Hills".

"I remember hearing about that," Valerie said as she looked around the room at the other articles placed all over the wall, "NASADA thought it was a result of time travel, right?"

"Right. I thought that I could show you all this, and then this one strange one that came out last week," he said as he pointed to one last article before reading it aloud, "'Gold and Silver Ranger Protect Zoo.'"

"Gold and Silver Rangers?" Valerie asked, "I wonder why Hermes didn't inform us about them."

"We should probably ask him," Jay suggested before pulling out his morpher and speaking into it.

"Hermes," Jay said, "Valerie and I are going to need a door."

Jay's closet began to glow with a blue light. Jay and Valerie stepped through into the Temple.

"How can I aid you?" Hermes said as he got up from the mosaic computer.

"What's up with these Gold and Silver Rangers?" Jay asked, "I thought most of the Olympian Gems didn't have enough power left to sustain a Ranger form, like the aqua and orange gems.

Hermes nodded, "while you are correct that those gems don't have enough power left, I never said that all of the gems lacked the power to sustain a Ranger form. I am not sure how these Rangers came to be, but I can assume that they are on our side if they are defeating monsters."

The two teens turned to leave before Valerie turned around back to Hermes, "just tell us if you learn anything, ok?"

"Of course, Valerie..." Hermes said as the two teens stepped through the doors again back to Jay's room, "I would never hide a secret from you, Rangers," he finished before turning to the screen once again.

"Time to contact Olympus," he said to himself, "even a mentor needs some guidance."  
As Jay walked back through, with Valerie right behind him, he thought about whether he should say it or not.

'What would she say if I asked her about being more than friends?' he thought, 'I'm sure other Rangers in the past never had this problem.'

"So, Valerie…" he began to say.

"Yes?" she asked as the two of them stepped close to one another

Jay stood there for a minute before changing his mind, "want to see if we can find a movie or something?" he asked.

Valerie gave a look of disappointment before quickly changing it to a more neutral look, "I guess."

'Was that actually what he wanted to ask me?' she thought.

'Why did I chicken out?' he thought, 'stupid, stupid!'

The two headed down the stair together, each lost in their own thoughts, unaware of the coming threat in the days ahead.

* * *

"WHAT?!" Hades shouted as he stood up from his throne.

"My family is coming to defeat the Rangers," Gryphon said as he kneeled on one knee, "my mother told me to warn you of their arrival."

Hades immediately began to scheme, "I suppose this will distract the Rangers long enough to set one of my major plans into motion," he said to himself before addressing his general, "very well. I will grant them anything they need for their campaign."

"That won't be necessary," the same voice as before said, "I promise you that we are very well prepared."

Into Hades' throne room slithered the snake-woman that had spoken to Gryphon earlier. Behind her were the six knights from before. Gryphon stood up and joined the line of knights.

"Echidna, what a pleasant surprise" Hades said sarcastically, "I never expected you to slither out of the hole you dug yourself into after the Second War."

"After a few thousand years, you eventually decide to take matters into your own hands," Echidna retorted, "not that you would know anything about that. How many monsters have you sent to destroy the Rangers? Some of those were my children! You had my darling Hydra slaughtered!"

"It isn't my fault it failed," Hades said, "I gave it all the tools to succeed, it just couldn't. Must have been something wrong with how it was raised."

Echidna gave a death stare, "you're lucky I hate the Rangers right now for humiliating Gryphon more than I hate you for sending him into losing battles. You call those Spartoi you supported them with warriors? These are warriors!"

She raised her hand and green-feathered women-like creatures swooped in from behind the knights, "what your Spartoi could do, my Harpies can do better!"

"That may be true," Hades said, "but I doubt it."

"If you're done insulting my children, I would like to see where I will be directing my forces from."

"You can have one of my old throne rooms," Hades said as he gestured to a doorway, "you will find it quite accommodating. There's even somewhere for you to sit, if you can sit."

"Come, my Dark Order," Echidna said as she slithered through the door. She found on the other side a large throne room not unlike the one she had just been in.

Echidna gestured to the throne, "place the table there," she said, "I'm feeling a little medival today."

Two Harpies came in with a large round table that they placed in front of the throne. Each of the knights took a seat in the chairs around the table. The table rippled like water until it showed a split screen of each of the Rangers.

"With this enchanted round table," Echidna said, "we watch and wait…Then we strike!"

Hades looked into the room quickly before ducking his head back in, "good," he cackled, "they will make a good distraction for the Rangers. And if they destroy the Rangers, then one part of my plan will be fulfilled without me lifting a finger. Come, Persephone!" he said as he walked past the thrones into another room. Persephone followed meekly behind him.

'Soon,' she thought, 'I will be able to aid the Rangers soon.'

* * *

A day had passed, and the teens were back in school. Jay was sitting in his English class when he finally decided to start tuning in again.

"...led by King Arthur, the Knights of the Round Table fought Morgana and other threats to the kingdom with bravery and skill," the teacher, Mrs. Adamson, continued.

"Like the Power Rangers?" a student asked.

"Exactly like the Power Rangers," Mrs. Adamson replied, "just as they fight for the innocent, so too did the Knights. But know that for every hero, there is usually a villain to counter them. Of course, that's just in literature, not real life. Now, who wants to read us the next passage..."

* * *

The teens met at the Athens Cafe on the roof for lunch at their usual table. Jay sat down next to Mera as Nate finished his story.

"And I said, 'that's no book, that's my discipline record!'" he said as he began to laugh.

Mera gave him a blank look, "I do not understand how that is funny," she said, "should you not want a small record, instead of a large one?"

"That's no fun!" Nate said, "do you want to be that one person people remember or one in a crowd? I'd rather be in the first group."

"Changing subjects," Valerie interjected as she sat down, "there seems to be some new Power Rangers protecting Olympia Hills."

"You are, of course, speaking about the Gold and Silver Rangers?" Mera said, "I did indeed know about them already, I just had assumed you had been informed."

"What's strange is that Hermes gave us a generic answer," Jay said, "when it come to mentors, he doesn't seem to be doing very well."

"No, he really hasn't," Valerie agreed, "I got advice from some woman I met at a party that was more helpful than what he could give me."

"That is indeed strange," Mera said, "because I met a woman at the library who gave me advice as well."

"And a man talked to you about helping me," Victor said.

"There seems to be a pattern here," Nate said, "we have an issue that's personal, and some stRanger comes to help us out. It's like some sort of TV show plot"

"I think we should talk to Hermes after school and see if he can explain who these people that keep helping us are, and see if we can learn more about these new Rangers," Jay said.

'I wish I was as certain about this as I sound' he thought as his face became grim, 'I always pretend to have a plan, but am I really the best leader I could be?'

"You ok, Jay?" Valerie asked, "you look worried."

"No...I'm fine," Jay replied.

"...OK" Valerie said, obviously not convinced.

'They wouldn't understand,' Jay thought, 'they wouldn't know what it feels like to worry about everything that happens to you.'

'I wonder what he's so worried about,' Valerie thought, 'I hope he'll be ok when we really need him.'

* * *

"I believe I have a plan, mother," the Dragon knight said as he rose from the table, "the red Ranger appears to be distant from his teammates at the moment. If we can get him alone and defeat him, the others will fall soon after!"

"Very good, my son," Echidna said, "bring some Harpies with you and see that it is done."

* * *

The final bell rang and teens began to flood the halls. Jay kept his head down and kept walking as other teens pushed around him.

'Today just hasn't been a great day,' Jay thought as he reached the library, 'I've been so worried about a possible monster attack that I'm basically on edge at all times.'

He found that he had entered the Temple without realizing it. As soon as he stepped into it, the others were right behind him.

"Alright, Hermes," Jay said, "we need to talk…"

An alarm went off just as Jay was about to conclude his sentence, "I guess we'll have to talk afterwards," he said. All five teens ran to the doors as they flew open.

The teens ran through the doors and found themselves in a industrial area. On each side of the teens was the brick wall of a building. In front of the Rangers was the Dragon knight. His armor gleaned gold in the sunlight as he put out his hand and summoned his halberd.

"Know, Rangers, that you face the mighty Colchian Dragon Knight of the Dark Order! Surrender now, or prepare to be destroyed!" he announced as he pointed his halberd at Jay, "you," he continued, "I challenge you to one on one combat!"

"What is it with knights based on mythological creatures and one on one battles?" Jay joked, "I accept your challenge!"

'I wish I was as confident as I sound,' Jay thought, 'I just have to push my anxiety away for now and deal with the current task at hand.'

"You guys ready?" Jay asked as he strapped on his morphers, "because it's morphing time!"

"Pink Olympian Power!"

"Yellow Olympian Power!"

"Black Olympian Power!"

"Blue Olympian Power!"

"Red Olympian Power!"

WIth a flash of colored light, the Rangers morphed and summoned their personal weapons.

"Harpies!" the Colchian Dragon Knight said as he raised his halberd, "attack!"

With a screech not unlike an eagle, several Harpies jumped down from the buildings above and swooped in to slash all of the Rangers except Jay with their claws. Jay charged past them and swung his sword at the Colchian Dragon Knight. The Knight blocked the strike with the handle of his halberd before swinging it around to slash Jay in the chest. Jay grunted through the pain as he did a combat roll around the Knight before attempting to stab the back of the knee. The sword bounced off, dealing little to no damage.

"This is the best you can do?" the Knight said as he slashed Jay across the helmet this time, causing sparks to fly, "you are a pathetic, insignificant excuse for a warrior!"

Jay got up and raised his sword to the sky. Red lightning struck the sword before Jay brought it down for a mighty slash. To Jay's surprise, the lightning just reflected off the armor as the sword bounced off again.

The Knight laughed as he pointed the point of his halberd at Jay, "taste some real power!" he shouted as golden flames spewed out of the halberd, "Golden Dragon Fire!"

Jay cried out in pain as he was thrown into the air from the force of the attack. He landed on the ground as the other Rangers were also thrown to the ground from the Harpies' clawed attacks.

"Say goodbye, Rangers," the Colchian Dragon said as he leveled his halberd at his prone foes. The Rangers struggled to stand as the golden flames began to swirl around the tip of the halberd again.

The Colchian Dragon was about to fire off his golden flames once again until a gold and a silver arrow came flying down. The gold arrow knocked the halberd out of the Knight's hand as the silver one struck him right in the chest plate, causing it to slightly crack.

The Rangers looked up to see both Gold and Silver Rangers on the rooftop. Their armor gleamed in the sunlight as they jumped down to the ground level. They landed and ran in between the other Rangers and the Dark Order member.

"Who in the world are you?" the Colchian Dragon roared, "and what are you doing interfering with this battle?"

"The shining sun Apollo! Olympian Force Gold!" the Gold Ranger shouted as he posed.

"The mysterious moon Artemis! Olympian Force Silver!" the Silver Ranger shouted as she posed next to him.

On each other the Ranger's chests was an epsilon stretched out vertically to form a bow in a bronze color. The two Rangers also had bronze wrist and ankle bands, as well as belts. The Silver Ranger also had a shimmering skirt. On their belts was a miniature bow in their respective colors.

"We'll take it from here, Rangers," the Silver Ranger said as she pulled the bow off her belt. The bow began to glow as it grew to the size of a normal longbow. She split it apart into two halves that became daggers.

"Just sit here and relax while we deal with the monster," the Gold Ranger said as he also pulled his bow off his belt before it grew to the size of a longbow as well. He straightened the edges to form it into a bo staff.

The two Rangers leveled their weapons and charged. The Silver Ranger came in at a dive between the Knight's legs, slashing at the leg guards and cracking them before she rose up and kicked him in the back, sending him flying into the Gold Ranger's staff. The Gold Ranger swung his staff around to send the Knight flying into the nearest brick wall.

"I wonder where they came from," Victor asked.

"Who cares where they came from!" Nate said, "look at them go! Can we have them join the team? Please? I need to learn how to fight like that!"

The two Rangers turned their weapons back to bow mode before standing next to each other and drawing back the string.

"Gemini Arrow!" they shouted as they drew back the string to the furthest they could, "fire!"

They released their bowstrings and the arrows launched at the enemy. The two arrows merged into one large arrow just before striking the Knight head-on right in the chest. He cried out in pain as fires lit around him. Instead of exploding, however, he just fell to his knees in defeat.

"What!?" Jay shouted, "how is he not destroyed? That arrow hit him dead on!"

"I'll be back to take my vengeance upon all of you!" the Colchian Dragon said as he got up from his kneeling position, "you can count on it!"

The Knight disappeared in a cloud of black smoke. The original Rangers ran up to the new Rangers, who had turned to go.

"Wait!" Jay said right before the two were about to leave, "who are you and where have you been?"

"We are the Gold and Silver Rangers," the Silver Ranger said, "and we've been fighting the battles you couldn't." She looked at the Gold Ranger for a minute before continuing, "you may want to consider training more, your moves are sloppy and weak."

"Hold on a minute!" Nate said before Valerie and Mera held him back, "let me at 'em! Let me at 'em!"

"You know," Victor said, "maybe the best way for us to train would be if you taught us how to fight like you."

"He's right," Jay said, "join us. Together we can beat Hades, these Knights, and any other monster that gets in our way."

"That'll be a hard pass," the Gold Ranger said as he shoved around Jay to leave, "you'd only slow us down. As you can see, we can handle these monsters pretty well ourselves. We don't need seven Rangers when two do just fine."

"Until next time, Rangers," the Silver Ranger said as the two of them leapt up to the rooftop they came from before leaping to the next one.

* * *

"Can you believe the nerve of them?" Nate said, still seething, "WE would slow THEM down?"

The Rangers had returned to the Temple still in uniform and had taken off their helmets to talk about what the next best move was.

"Just a minute," Mera said, "consider it this way, imagine two lesser-skilled Rangers wanted to join us. Would you let them, knowing they would just get in the way?"

"When you put it that way…" Nate said as he put his head down. Valerie walked away from argument and past Victor to see Jay sitting on one of the steps in front of the door. He was looking at his helmet in his hands.

"Penny for your thoughts?" she said as she sat down next to him.

"Just wondering how much what they and the knight said were true, how sloppy we were, and how pathetic a warrior I really am," Jay said as he continued to look at the helmet in his hands.

"You can't believe what they said," Valerie said as she put a hand on his shoulder, "you're not a pathetic warrior, or a bad Ranger. You're just like the rest of us: doing the best we can with what we've been given. That's how life works. We're not perfect, but we do what we can to improve what we can."

"I'm not like everyone else," Jay said as he put the helmet down next to him and looked at his teammate, "I struggle harder than you or anyone one else realizes. I have anxiety and some depression. I can't sleep at night sometimes because I'm worried about how the next battle will go. I can't lose you, or anyone else on the team, and I'm worried what will happen if I do. I sound confident when I have a plan, but I just worry about all the ways it could fail." He realized that tears were falling down his cheeks. He must have started crying somewhere in the middle of his speech.

"Hey, listen," Valerie said as she put her hand on top of his, "you think I'm not worried about our battles? I'm so afraid that sometimes I can't move, but you know what keeps me going? You. You inspire me, and all of the other Rangers, to believe that we have a plan, and that we can win."

"You don't understand!" Jay said as he moved his hand away from hers, "I can't take this pressure any longer! If there are two Rangers who are doing a better job than I am, that's great, because I quit!"

He demorphed and pulled off his morphers. He handed them to Valerie. She looked at him, shocked.

"Wait...Jay!" she shouted as he sprinted out of the temple and out of the Rangers' sights. "I never got to tell him…" she didn't finish as she started to cry as well, looking at the helmet that hadn't disappeared when Jay demorphed. The helmet looked at her blankly, and didn't give her any answers.

**Well...That got dark. Just note that anxiety and depression don't have the same exact symptoms for everyone. I have anxiety and depression, and I can tell you that luckily mine is not that bad. I hope that everyone sticks around for a more upbeat resolution to this problem.**

**Until next time, may the power protect you!**


	8. Red Ranger Rising

**I know it seems strange to end a chapter where I did last chapter, but I wanted to leave it on a cliffhanger. While the last one dealt with self-doubt and anxiety, this chapter...well, I'll let you see for yourselves**

**Thanks to JTWAS1994 for reviewing as usual. It's nice to have another person's reaction to what I write, so reviews are alway welcome. On with the story! **

**Power Rangers Olympian Force Chapter 8- Red Ranger Rising**

"What just happened?" Nate said as he and Mera ended their discussion suddenly, "did our Red Ranger just quit?"

Valerie looked at him, her eyes still red from crying, "yes," she said simply.

Nate whirled around and walked up to Hermes, who had just been standing there the entire time, before starting to speak again, "and you did nothing! What sort of mentor are you? You haven't been very helpful or informative. The last important thing you did was give us our powers! Powers that our leader just rejected! What do you have to say for yourself?"

Hermes just gave a playful smile, "who says I haven't been helping? I'm the one who activated all of the zords. I helped out Victor in his time of need. I would say I've been a good mentor."

"Not exactly," Victor said bluntly as he walked up to the two, "you never told us about these Gold and Silver Rangers at all."

"Additionally, Valerie, Jay and I have all had some strange person come up to us and give us advice, can you explain that for us?"

"Rangers," Hermes said, "the gods of Olympus have certain rules of non-interference in the lives of mortals. I already break some of them with me even being here, but I cannot break more. I am sorry, but I can't tell you anything about either of those things. What I can do is recommend you find a way to convince Jay to rejoin you, and quickly. I do not know when the next attack will be, and you will need to be at full strength."

* * *

It was the next day, and all of the teens minus Jay were at their table. Jay started to walk to the table before turning around and sitting down at the table next to them, sitting alone.

"Let's go," Nate said as he grabbed his tray and stood up. The rest of the teens grabbed their trays and walked over to the table.

"Mind if we join you?" Nate joked.

"I do," Jay answered as he turned away from his friends, "if you're here to convince me to come back, don't bother. I've made up my mind, and I think this is for the best."

"But it's not," Valerie said, "we need you to win against Hades and the Dark Order! Who's going to lead us to victory if you aren't there?"

"Nate learned his lesson when it came to leading," Jay retorted, "I think he'll do just fine leading the team."

"Fine!" Valerie shouted suddenly, "we're trying to help you here, and you're just blowing us off! If you want to be alone, then that's fine with me!"

She ran away from the table, holding back tears.

"I thought you cared about Valerie and the rest of us," Nate said, "I guess I was wrong."

"Indeed," Mera agreed, "when you come to your senses, you know where we are located."

She walked away from the table, with Nate and Victor right behind her. Victor turned his head over his shoulder and gave a disapproving frown.

"It's better this way," Jay said to himself, "I would just slow them down. Just like the Gold and Silver Rangers said: I'm a poor fighter."

* * *

Echidna grinned, showing off her teeth with all of their points. She slithered around the round table before reaching the Eagle.

" Ladon," she announced, "I want you to use your power to defeat the Rangers. Four Rangers will be no match for your serpent-like abilities."

Ladon rose from the table, "as you command, mother," he said before walking towards the doors, "I will not fail you."

Echidna looked at the Colchian Dragon and his cracked armor before speaking, "you had better not. I will not tolerate failure."

The Colchian Dragon stood up quickly, "mother!" he shouted, "allow me another chance at the Rangers before you send Ladon!"

Echidna thought it over for a minute before nodding, "very well, I will grant you another chance, but know that if you come back here defeated, I will destroy you myself! Bring me a Ranger, and I will spare you from my wraith."

"As you command," the Colchian Dragon said as he exited the throne room.

"My dear Ladon," Echidna said, "I may have another mission for you…"

* * *

"Does anyone else have any other ideas?" Nate asked as the four friends walked down the path side by side. They were in the park by the lake, where they had fought Argus and several Spartoi almost a month ago.

"I was certain that Valerie would be able to get Jay to join our efforts again with their unique bond, but I was mistaken," Mera said.

"What do you mean 'unique bond'?" Valerie asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Nate said, "the two of you spent so much time together. You must have a thing for him or something."

"I...I...well…" Valerie spluttered, red in the face from her blush, "Victor?" she asked, "what about your plan?" She gave herself a silent pat on the back for getting herself out of the hot seat.

"Maybe we should just give him some space?" Victor asked quietly.

The other Rangers didn't have any time to answer Victor's question as a blast of golden fire shot out and hit the ground around them, causing it to erupt into a circle of flames. Strangely, the circle of golden fire didn't expand like it should have on the dry grass, instead it maintained it's round shape.

"Rangers!" a voice the Rangers knew too well shouted, "prepare to meet your doom at the hands of…"

"The Colchian Dragon Knight," Valerie finished, clearly irritated, "listen, we don't have time for you right now! We have a more pressing matter to deal with."

"Oh, I know," the Dark Order Knight cackled, "there are only four of you, so it will be 20% easier to defeat you!"

"He can divide!" Nate joked before turning serious for a moment, "now let's see what he thinks when we multiply our power! It's morphing time!"

"Pink Olympian Power!"

"Yellow Olympian Power!"

"Black Olympian Power!"

"Blue Olympian Power!"

Each Ranger's color swirled around them before creating their Ranger suits. They stepped out of the colored lights that quickly faded and summoned their personal weapons. With a cry, Nate led the charge towards their foe.

The Dragon Knight blasted golden flame out of his halberd again, but the Rangers rolled to dodge it before jumping into the air to deliver two rounds of flying kicks, one from the guys and one from the girls. The Knight laughed as their blows merely bounced off his armor.

"That's it!" Nate shouted, "I'm sick of hearing this guy laugh anymore! We need a way to beat him and fast!"

"I wish Jay was here…" Valerie said as she looked down at the ground, "he would know what to do."

"Jay isn't here, though," Victor said matter-of-factly.

"We need to end our worrying of what-ifs and instead focus on our plan of attack," Mera said as she pointed her spear at the cracked parts of the Knight's armor, specifically his chestplate, "I believe it would be best if we aim our attacks there. They appear to be his most vulnerable regions."

"I've got nothing better," Nate admitted before shouting, "Rangers! Attack!"

With another battle cry, the Rangers rushed forward. Victor and Nate flipped over the Knight and grabbed each of his arms. As he struggled to break free from their grip, Mera and Valerie threw her spear and shot her bow respectively at his cracked chestplate. The point of the spear and the body of the energy arrow drove straight into the chest of their foe, causing him to scream in pain as well as fall to his knees in defeat again.

"How could this happen?" he asked, "the Dark Order is invincible!"

"Obviously not!" Nate said as he stabbed his trident right through the Knight's helmet, causing him to explode into ash.

"That was easier than I thought it would be," Victor remarked as he kicked some of the ash in the pile with his boot.

"Let's head back to base," Nate said as the others nodded in agreement.

* * *

Jay sat in his room, surrounded by reminders of his old life. The Power Ranger articles seemed to become larger, threatening to suffocate him. He ran out of the room before falling to the floor, gasping for breath.

"You ok?" his brother said as he stood next to the doorway, looking at his older sibling inhale shakely, "where's your not-girlfriend girlfriend?"

Jay shook his head, "I don't know and I don't care."

"I don't believe that for a minute," Jay's brother said as he shook his head, "you two spend nearly a month together, meeting up and doing things together, and you suddenly don't care about her anymore? I think the problem is you care too much."

"I need a walk," Jay said, "I'll be back eventually."

Jay opened the door and looked at the leaves as the wind picked them up and whirled them around a bit before dying down. The coldness of fall was beginning to worsen again, and Jay had to wonder if there was some reason for this. Some supernatural reason…

"No," Jay out loud as he began to walk down the street, "I'm done with that life. I couldn't take the stress of it, so I quit. That's it."

He looked up at the graying sky before continuing his monologue, "so why do I keep having to tell myself this? Why can't I let the past go?"

'Why can't I let Valerie go?' he added silently in his head. He stopped in front of a house and continued his train of thought, 'do I really care for her that much?'

"Can I help you with something, young man?" an older man said as he stepped out of his house, his white hair and beard rustling in the wind. His eyes were blue and still full of life, even though the rest of him looked defeated by the forces of time.

"Oh, I'm so, so sorry, sir," Jay said as he turned to start walking again, 'I didn't mean to loiter, I'll just keep moving along."

"No, no," the man said as he gestured to the bench in the yard, "come sit down, please. You obviously have a lot on your mind."

Jay got a strange feeling, he could trust this man. As he sat down, he realized "I know you. I'm certain I know you from somewhere."

"I'm sure you've seen me around," the man said, "I've been in Olympia Hills for years, waiting for someone."

"Waiting for who?" Jay asked, his natural curiosity superseding his current avoidance of the strange.

"Someone like you," the old man said, "I've been waiting for a young man with lightning in their soul and mind."

"Lightning?" Jay said as he thought of his old Ranger element, "I may have had it a month ago, but it's gone now."

"Oh no," the man chuckled, "that lightning never fades. It may become harder to harness and control, but it is never truly gone. Something tells me you used to be a part of a group, a group of friends you decided caused you stress."

Jay looked at him questioningly, "how do you know this?" he asked.

"I know this because I used to be like you. I used to think that I was best off alone, that I would never be able to be a leader, that the stress was too much, and I feared for the safety of my team. Then I found a way to harness that fear. We all can be great warriors if we can overcome fear, that is the greatest power mortals possess, unbreakable will and the ability to overcome great fear."

The man looked over at the young teen next to him, "you know what you need to do?" he asked.

"I need to go find my friends," Jay said, determined and renewed with confidence, "because I need to face my fear."

"Good," the man said as he stood up, "then my search is over, I may go home."

There was a sudden crack of thunder as Jay began to speak again "Where is your home?" He turned around to find no one around. He looked down to see a rotting bench. As he jumped up off of it, he looked up to see the house he had been sitting in front of was abandoned, and had been for some time.

"Cool," he said, smiling, "there was definitely more to that man then met the eye." He turned around and ran down the street back to the school.

He ran around the corner and saw the familiar blue glow around one of the doors of the school, he opened it up and stepped through. Inside, he found Nate, Mera, Valerie and Victor standing around Hermes, who was at the computer.

"Can I come in?" he joked.

"Of course," Valerie said as she ran up and gave him a hug, "welcome back."

"I never even said why I came back," Jay said as he blushed, "but I did come back to apologize. I blamed you guys for my problems, and I realized that with these power we have a chance to make a difference. I want to help with that again. Now, I understand if you guys…"

"Stop right there," Nate said as he broke into a grin, "welcome back, fearless leader."

"Good to be back, hotshot," Jay countered as he shook Nate's hand.

Hermes flew over to Jay with his morphers, "I think these belong to you," he said simply.

"Now, Hermes, I wanted to ask…" Jay said before the alarms went off.

"That'll have to wait," Hermes said, "another member of the Dark Order is attacking the city, get out there and stop him."

* * *

In another part of town, Ladon crushed another car with his suddenly serpentine body. His body quickly unwrapped itself from it's Anaconda-like grip and shifted back to a humanoid shape.

"Gold and Silver Rangers!" Ladon shouted, "face me in battle, so I may avenge my brother's defeat!"

He turned around to see the Gold and Silver Rangers standing in front of him, blocking him from attacking any more civilians.

"Halt!" the Gold Ranger said as he put up his hand.

"Your reign of terror ends here!" the Silver Ranger finished. The two Rangers drew their bows and changed them into their melee weapons.

The Silver Ranger flipped over Ladon and slashed down his back, slightly slicing through the armor and leaving him vulnerable from a strike from behind. The Silver Ranger was about to slash at that spot again, but Ladon shifted into his serpentine form and slithered around her strike. The Silver Ranger was too shocked to block the strike from Ladon's sword. She was sent flying backwards into a wall, creating a crater in it. The Gold Ranger ran up to her and helped her stand up.

"You ok, sis?" he asked as she fell down again, clutching her side in pain.

"I've been better, bro," the Silver Ranger said as she grunted in pain, "now let's beat this freak and go home."

They both turned their weapons back to bow mode and charged up their energy.

"Gemini Arrow!" the two Rangers shouted, "fire!"

They released their bow strings and fired off their energy arrows. The two arrows merged into one large arrow that went flying straight at Ladon. Just as he was about to be hit by the arrow, Ladon shifted into his serpent form and dodged it.

"What!?" the two Rangers said together.

"Did you honestly think that would work?" Ladon said as he shifted back to human form again, "I saw how you defeated my brother. You think I wouldn't have a contingency against your final attack?"

"What do we do now?" the Gold Ranger asked the Silver Ranger.

"You get help from us!" Jay shouted from the rooftop.

"Who else is getting a sense of Deja Vu?" Nate asked Mera, Valerie and Victor as the Rangers, already morphed, stood on the rooftop before jumping down in between the sibling Rangers and the Dark Order Knight.

"More Rangers?" Ladon asked, "not a problem."

He shifted into serpent mode and wrapped himself around the five primary Rangers, slowly crushing them in his grip.

"This went better in my mind," Jay said.

"Hang on, Rangers!" the Gold and Silver Rangers said together as they transformed their bows into their melee weapons again.

With a battle cry, the two Rangers charged. The Silver Ranger slashed at Ladon's serpentine body while the Gold Ranger smacked it with his staff. It had little to no effect on the Knight's armor.

"What do we do now?" the Gold Ranger asked the Silver Ranger.

"Let's bring them together!" the SIlver Ranger said before the two Rangers combined their weapons. The two daggers combined into one blade, and then were attached to the staff, forming a javelin.

"Gemini Javelin!" the two Rangers shouted before the Gold Ranger threw the javelin at Ladon's body. The javelin pierced the Knight's body, causing him to scream in agony before unwrapping from the other Rangers, allowing them to breathe. All five Rangers gasped for breath as the pressure was released from around them.

Ladon's remains laid in front of them at the Rangers shook hand with each other.

"You may have a lot to learn," the Gold Ranger said, "but we do appreciate you trying to help us. You may have gotten in the way, but at least you tried."

"Do you practice being arrogant in a mirror, or does it come naturally?" Jay countered, "but we were glad to help."

"Jay seems a lot more confident," Victor whispered to Valerie.

"He does," Valerie responded.

"Until next time," the Gold and Silver Rangers said as they gave a little salute before jumping to the nearest rooftop.

"They're still as nice as always," Nate said.

"Yeah," Jay said, "but we can't let what they said get to us. As long as we don't give in to self-doubt and fear, there's nothing we can't do."

The other Rangers nodded before a door near them cast a familiar blue light, they stepped through to see Hermes standing there, waiting for them.

"Rangers," he said, "I know you have questions, but you must just allow destiny to take its course. I promise all questions will be answered in time."

"I have a question that I hope can be answered," Jay said as he pulled off his helmet before the others did the same. He turned to Valerie.

"If I need to face my fears, there's one in particular I've been dealing with for a few weeks."

He took a deep breath before continuing, "Valerie, will you go on a date with me?"

The whole world seemed to slow down as he awaited Valerie's answer, the other Rangers watching with bated breath.

**Definitely a different kind of cliffhanger! **

**I know some people may say that I should have let Jay stay out of the fight for a little longer, but the arc isn't really about that, it's about the three-sided fight between the primary Rangers, the twin Rangers and the Dark Order.**

**Thanks to everyone for reading, and may the power protect you all.**


	9. United We Stand, Divided We Fall

**Power Rangers is owned by our Hasbro Overlords, long may they reign. **

**Hey Ranger fans! I want to thank .16 and JTWAS1994 for their reviews of chapters 1 and 8 respectivly. If you have any compliments, complaints or comments, be sure to leave a review. I promise I read them all and try to reply quickly!**

**Here we go with chapter 9! **

**Power Rangers Olympian Force Chapter 9- United We Stand, Divided We Fall**

Jay waited with bated breath as Valerie didn't give an answer for about half a minute.

'Did I spring this on her too soon?' he thought as he began to second-guess himself, 'no! I need to be confident in myself! I wouldn't know the answer unless I asked.'

'Alright,' Valerie thought, 'he finally asked, now how do I accept without seeming too eager or weird?'

"Sure," Valerie answered, "I think that would be a good idea."

'Stupid answer!' she thought in her head, 'I sound like a robot! Or Mera...one of the two.'

"How about tomorrow night at 7? We could meet at Michelangelo's. You know where that is, right? The old pizza place about two blocks from Steel Works?"

"Sounds great!" Valerie said as she walked over to the weapons rack, "I was just going to practice my aim. With two new Rangers with bows, I'm starting to feel the pressure."

Jay nodded, "I guess I'll just study up on this 'Dark Order' the evil knights keep talking about."

"No need," Hermes said, "I am allowed to tell you about this. The Dark Order is a group of knights, a dark parallel on King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, with each based on a vicious mythological creature. They are led by Echidna, their mother and one of the vilest monsters to slither the Earth. They fought in the Second Great War against your predecessors, the original Olympian Rangers, and lost. As punishment they were sent into Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. The Dark Order must have found a way to break through the seal, which is bad if any of the other monsters there go out…"

"So they're bad news," Nate retorted, "so what? With these Gold and Silver Rangers patrolling the city, our job should be even easier than before."

An image of the Gold and Silver Rangers appeared on the screen as Mera began to speak.

"I am wondering," Mera said, "about what happens if we defeat them in battle, and if they would join us then."

"Should we really fight them?" Jay asked, "they seem to be on our side. Just a little stuck up. Is it really a good idea to challenge them when they appear to be allies?"

"Rangers are more powerful when they join forces," Victor said as he stepped forward and a diagram of the Ranger's Olympian Gems came on screen, "literally. Our Olympian Gems resonate with each other, causing them to generate a certain amount of energy. Imagine if we added more Gems to this 'circuit' of sorts. The more we have bonded to Rangers, the more powerful each Ranger will be. So yes, if it ensures they join us."

"We have the Red, Blue, Black, Yellow and Pink gems right now bonded to Rangers, and at least the Aqua and Orange ones in reserve, unless Hermes wants to reveal that he has more?" Jay asked as Hermes shook his head.

"Rangers, I'm afraid those were the only other ones I had. The Green, Crimson, White and Purple gems were lost long ago, split apart from the others. Someone must have found the Gold and Silver ones."

"Do we have a way to search for these lost gems?" Mera asked

"I may be able to build something to help," Victor said, "give me a few days and I'll see what I can do."

"Well, I think we should get a good night's sleep while Victor works," Jay said as he yawned, "and regroup tomorrow after school for training."

The other Rangers headed to the large doors before Jay turned his head to Valerie, who was still shooting and hitting the target in the 7 point zone.

"You coming?" he asked.

"Give me a few more minutes and I'll go home," Valerie said as she set up another shot and finally got a bullseye, "I think I'm improving."

"Just don't tire yourself out," Jay said, "we have a date tomorrow, and I would hate for you to be asleep during it."

Valerie laughed, "don't worry," she said, "I'll be ready for tomorrow."

'She said yes!' Jay thought as he fist pumped, 'now if I can just make sure it all goes well.'

'I said yes,' Valerie thought, 'time to see how this goes…'

She shot another arrow and split the old arrow in two.

"Seems like a good sign, and a good place to end it," she remarked as she put the bow back on the rack and headed to the doors, "I wonder what will happen tomorrow?"

* * *

"Before we begin today," Mr Ford said, "I'd like to introduce our new student. She just transferred here from Olympia Hills Prep School with her twin brother. Her name is Diana Thomas, and I expect everyone to treat her with respect."

A seventeen year old girl with long brown hair walked into the classroom, she had on a silver t-shirt under a ripped jacket and torn-up jeans. Overall she had a very "don't mess with me" vibe to her.

"Let's see… Jay has a seat behind him open, why don't you sit there?" Mr Ford said as he gestured to the seat.

"Whatever," Diana said as she sat down at the seat. She noticed all of the boys looking in her direction.

"What are you looking at?" she snapped. All of the boys' heads shot back forward, while still sneaking glances at her.

Jay turned around as Mr Ford began his lecture, "I'm Jay, but you probably picked that up, nice to meet you," he whispered as he put out his hand for her to shake.

"I didn't ask," Diana said as she slapped his hand away, "just turn around and leave me alone."

"Excussse me, princess," Jay muttered as he did as she commanded, "I'm sure she's a hit at parties."

* * *

"And she says 'just turn around and leave me alone'!" Jay said as he took a chicken tender and split it in half, letting all of the hot air out of it before eating one of the halves.

"At least she talked to you," Nate said, his cheeseburger in his hand, forgotten, "I just got grunted at when I tried to talk to her in gym. Man, she had some great moves in soccer, though. Not to mention she's hot!"

"I wouldn't tell her that to her face," Jay remarked, "she might take it as an insult or something."

"I assume you two are discussing Diana," Mera said as she sat down with her bowl of soup, "she's been rude to everyone who has made contact with her."

"Mr Ford said something about a twin brother," Jay said, "I wonder who that could be?"

"You'll never believe who transferred here!" Valerie said as she dragged over a blond haired boy with blue eyes, golden-rimmed glasses and a gold button-up on, "it's Adrian! Remember? From the party?"

"Didn't you dance with him?" Victor asked.

"Uh...yeah," Valerie said, her face red with embarrassment, "I hope you remember more about him than that."

"Adrian!" a female voice said.

"Uh oh…" Jay said as he hid his face in his hands, "it's Miss Personality."

"She can't be that bad," Valerie said as Diana walked over, "nice to meet you, I'm Valerie, and you are…?"

"His twin sister," Diana said as she cracked her knuckles, "now take your hands off my brother before I remove them for you."

"Now, Diana," Adrian said as he pried Valerie off of his arm and stood next to Diana, "this is my friend Valerie, so can we please not threaten her? Especially on the first day."

"Whatever," Diana said as she did a once over on everyone else, "you!" she growled as she pointed at Jay, "I remember you!"

"All I did was say hello to you and introduced myself!" Jay shouted, "why do act like it's a declaration of war?"

"Diana," Adrian said again, "Valerie's friends are my friends, so let's avoid being rude, alright?"

Diana crossed her arms and looked away from the teens with a "hmph!" before walking away.

Adrian whispered a quick "sorry" before following close behind her.

"Well, that went well," Nate said sarcastically.

"Not really," Victor said, "it seemed to go quite poorly."

"It's called sarcasm, Vic," Jay explained, "I just wish I could figure out her issue."

"Well, you won't have time to think about it for long," Valerie said as she got up to leave, "I'll see you after school for training, then Michelangelo's at 7."

"I would never forget that," Jay said, grinning, "see you at training!"

* * *

"We're already down two members…" Echidna began, "and the ones I have left have no ideas whatsoever about how to defeat the Rangers! You disappoint me, children."

"Mother," a knight in a dark-metaled armor said as he stood up from the table. His helmet was designed after a twin-headed dog.

"Let me use my duplication power to defeat the Rangers," he requested, "I can divide the Rangers, and defeat them! Their strength lies in their teamwork, so if you split up the team, they will be weaker."

"A sound plan," Echidna remarked, "I will grant your request. Bring Harpies with you, and do not fall like your brothers did."

"Yes, mother," Orthros, the twin-headed dog knight, said as he kneeled on one knee, "I will not fail you."

* * *

Training had been uneventful but rewarding, and Jay was certainly feeling his sore muscles from the exercise they had been through. He rubbed his shoulder that Nate had struck during their sparring session.

"Ow," he said as he walked up to his house. He opened the door and shouted into the house, "I'mmm home!"

His brother poked his head out of the computer room, "just keep it down, my friends and I are gaming!"

Jay rolled his eyes, "whatever," he retorted, "I've got a date in an hour to get ready for."

"So is she your girlfriend now?" his brother asked.

"Yeah," Jay said, "I guess she kind of is."

Within the next hour, Jay had taken a shower, brushed his hair and was in the process of deciding what to wear. He held up two shirts. One was a casual red polo, the other a red button-up shirt.

"Form or function?" he asked himself as he raised each one on his finger, "I guess this is more of a casual date, so I'll just go with the polo. But, if she shows up dressed up nice and I'm not, I look like a slob and an idiot." He looked at the clock, "I'd better decide soon."

* * *

Valerie spun around in front of the mirror, "it looks great!" she said.

She had chosen to go in a mix of casual and fancy, with a pink tank top, but a black skirt instead of the dress she could have worn.

'This seems like a fair compromise between the two things I could have worn,' she thought as she looked at the dress hanging up in the closet and her normal outfit she had been wearing.

"Mom, I'm heading out, I'll be back by 10!" she shouted up the massive stairs as she walked down them into the large foyer. Her family's butler opened up the door for her.

"Have a good date, Miss Valerie," he said.

"Thank you, James," Valerie said as she stepped out, "I'll definitely try."

* * *

Orthros slashed the ground with his twin scimitars, creating a large crack in the ground. Civilians ran away as he split into two identical knights

"Go and attack another area!" the first Orthros ordered the duplicate, the duplicate nodded and leapt up to the nearest rooftop before leaping towards another populated area.

Orthros laughed as he caused the humans to continue to run and scream in terror.

"Hold it!" a female voice shouted.

The Gold and SIlver Rangers ran up to confront the Dark Order Knight, bows already summoned and ready.

"The Gold and Silver Rangers," Orthros said, "just the Rangers I was looking for. You destroyed my brother Ladon, and I want revenge!"

"Yeah? Well, take a number," the Silver Ranger said, "we seem to be pissing off a lot of people lately."

"Shall we, sister?" the Gold Ranger asked.

"We shall," the Silver Ranger said as they drew back their bow strings, summoning energy arrows ready to be fired at the knight.

"Gemini Arrow!" the two Rangers shouted as they fired the arrows. The two arrows merged into one large glowing arrow that went flying at Orthros. Orthros combined his scimitars and began to spin them, creating a barrier that the Gemini Arrow just dissipated on.

"We need to stop relying on that to finish the battle quickly," the Gold Ranger said as he turned his bow into his staff, The Silver Ranger followed suit, turning her bow into her daggers.

"I guess we need to weaken him first," she said simply as she jumped in the air before coming down onto the knight in a double knife stab strike right in the neck. The blades just bounced off the tough armor, but it was enough to anger Orthros.

"Get off!" he shouted as he grabbed the Silver Ranger by the throat and slammed her into the ground. Her body was limp as she laid in the crater the slam had created. Orthros raised his scimitars, ready to slice her.

"Stay away from my sister!" the Gold Ranger said as he leapt into the air to come in with a flying kick. The kick was strong enough to force Orthros back a bit, just enough for the Gold Ranger to scoop up the Silver Ranger in his arms, turn around and run to the nearest alley.

"Please be ok," he said as he removed her helmet, revealing Diana's face, scratched up but still recognizable. He removed his own helmet, revealing himself to be Adrian.

"She's still breathing," he said as he watched her chest rise and fall, showing that she was indeed still breathing, "that's a good sign."

He sighed, "you just had to charge in, didn't you" he asked her unconscious body, "I guess that's the reason those strange gems chose us." He looked at the gold gemstone on his bronze wristband, "my healing skills and your fighting abilities, but what am I going to do with you?" he asked, Diana laid there and couldn't answer.

* * *

"There she is!" Jay said as he waved to Valerie, who was walking up to the restaurant just as the clock struck 7:00, "and right on time too!"

As she walked up, Jay noticed what she was wearing. While it was more formal than usual, it was still very much something she would choose to wear normally.

"You look nice," he said, looking her up and down as he did.

"You do too," Valerie said. Jay was in a red button-up shirt with dark jeans, once again looking nice without being too formal.

"Shall we?" Jay said as he put out his hand.

"We shall," Valerie said as she put her hand in his.

* * *

Nate was practicing his fighting moves in the Temple when the alarms went off.

"What's going on?" he asked as Hermes typed a few runes on the computer. The mosaic stones twisted and turned to form a split-screen of the Orthros duplicates. The one on the left was being confronted by the Gold Ranger, while the one on the right of the screen was unopposed.

"Talk about double trouble," Nate quipped.

"I'm calling the other Rangers," Hermes said.

"Just call Victor and Mera," Nate said, "we'll call in the lovebirds if we need them, but let's try to let them enjoy their evening out."

The Doors of Janus flew open and Mera and Victor ran through.

"We have arrived!" Mera shouted as the two Rangers ran up to the computer, "I assume the Dark Order has struck again?"

"Yeah, and they're trying to divide us," Nate said, "unfortunately, I don't see much of a choice. The Gold Ranger needs help, and we need to stop this other identical knight as well. Mera, you and Victor go and fight the unchallenged one, I'll go help the Gold Ranger."

"Right!" Mera and Victor shouted.

"Ready?" Nate said as he strapped on his morphers.

"Ready!" Mera and Victor shouted as they prepped their morphers as well.

"Yellow Olympian Power!"

"Black Olympian Power!"

"Blue Olympian Power!"

Particles of light appeared out of the morphers and flew around the Rangers before being absorbed by the Rangers and transformed into their suits.

"You think the morphers would just decide on one way to morph," Nate joked, "because it seems like the effect is different every time we morph."

The other two ignored him and ran through the open doors with Nate right behind them.

* * *

"Back off!" the Gold Ranger shouted as he jabbed his staff at the Dark Order knight's chest, pushing him back a bit before Orthros raised his scimitars.

"I'll leave you just as beaten as your sister!" Orthros shouted as he quickly slashed down with his scimitars. The Gold Ranger closed his eyes as he waited for the blow. But the attack never came. The Gold Ranger looked up to see Nate blocking the sword strikes with the handle of his trident.

"Mind if I cut in?" Nate said before quickly raising the trident, knocking Orthros off-balance long enough for Nate to do a sweeping kick, knocking the evil knight to the ground.

Nate ran over to the Gold Ranger and offered his hand, "where's your partner?" he asked, "thought you two were inseparable."

"She's injured and laying in that alley," the Gold Ranger said as he pointed, "but I'll take care of her, you fight the monster."

"Better idea: we fight the monster together and then take her to our base. We have a way to heal her…" Nate said before he was cut off.

"She'll be fine without your help," the Gold Ranger retorted, "but it is a better idea to fight together. Temporary alliance?" he asked as he put out his hand.

"Temporary alliance," Nate echoed as he shook the hand offered to him.

Orthros had stood up in the time the two Rangers were talking, and began to charge at Nate, "I'll get you back for that!" he shouted.

"You and what army?" Nate shouted back.

"I'm so glad you asked!" Orthros said as he looked up. The Rangers looked up to see the familiar green wings and bodies of…

"Harpies!" Orthros ordered, "attack!"

"Just had to open your big mouth," the Gold Ranger said as he looked at his temporary ally, both preparing for the upcoming attack.

* * *

Valerie and Jay laughed together. They had ordered their food and were passing the time with stories from their past.

"And I was the only kid in costume! So there I was, 9th grade and I was in 1st period math in a Pokemon costume," Jay said as he kept laughing.

"And...and what did you do then?" Valerie said as she gasped for breath from laughing so hard.

"I walked around the whole day in costume. Couldn't really call my mom and say, 'Hey Mom? I need you to come to school and pick me up. I'm the only kid with Halloween spirit!'"

The two laughed again before Jay asked a question, "hey, speaking of Halloween, you doing anything special. You know, dressing up or going to a party or something?"

"Hadn't really thought about it," Valerie answered, "my parents will probably take me to some fancy masquerade or something. But what about you? I know for a fact that most kids our age still trick-or-treat."

"Yeah, in black hoodies like hoodlums," Jay said as he gave a small chuckle, "not the most original costume in the world. No, I'll probably stay home this year unless our 'club' gets in the way."

"Speaking of our 'club'," Valerie said as she pointed at the TV screen behind him. Jay turned around to see the Yellow and Black Ranger confronting the Orthros clone on the screen.

"We should probably go…" Jay said as he got up before sitting back down, "oh, they'll be fine," he remarked, "I'm sure Nate and the Gold and Silver Rangers will give them a hand."

"Maybe not," Valerie said as she pointed to the screen again.

Jay turned around to see the Blue and Gold Rangers fighting the other Orthros.

"There are two of him?" Jay said, "looks like they'll need our help after all."

"For what it was worth, it was a good date while it lasted," Valerie said.

"We can always come back," Jay said as the two stood up and ran out of the restaurant, "but until then, back to action!"

* * *

"Whoa!" Victor shouted as he went flying from a scimitar slice straight into the nearest car, creating a large Ranger-sized dent right in it.

"His natural strength and stamina are impressive," Mera said as she summoned her spear, "but nothing will stop us from accomplishing our mission."

"Uh...right!" Victor said, pulling himself out of the car dent and summoning his hammer.

Mera raised her spear and hurled it into the right shoulder joint of Orthros' armor before coming in with a flying kick to push it into the joint further. Orthros cried out in pain as he recoiled from the rush of attacks. Victor decided to press on the advantage and raise his hammer over his head before running over to the knight and slamming the spear point even deeper into the shoulder.

Orthros cried out in pain as Jay and Valerie arrived, already morphed and ready to fight with their weapons drawn.

"Looks like I underestimated you guys," Jay said, "good job landing such a solid hit!"

"Four Rangers?" Orthros said as he pulled the spear out of his shoulder and threw it to the ground, "no problem!" He grabbed his scimitar from the ground and whirled them around in a show of skill and technique.

"You're good," Jay said, "but we're better!"

"Aphrodite, goddess of love! Pink Olympian Ranger!"

"Athena, goddess of wisdom! Yellow Olympian Ranger!"

"Hephaestus, god of the forge! Black Olympian Ranger!"

"Zeus, god of lightning! Red Olympian Ranger!"

"Using the powers of the past to protect the future! Power Rangers Olympian Force!"

"Harpies!" Orthros shouted as a dozen Harpies swooped down, "tear the skin from their bones!"

The Harpies screeched and took to the air before swooping down to strike the Rangers with their claws. Instead, as a unit, the Rangers rolled out of the way before striking 4 swooping Harpies down with axe kicks, slamming them into the concrete.

The others turned around for another attack, and swooped down again as the Rangers lashed out with their legs once again.

"You featherbrains!" Orthos shouted at his minions as they regrouped in front of him, "you're letting them pick you off like flies! Attack them directly!"

The Harpies whirled around and ran in for a frontal assault, but the Rangers were ready, whirling around in flying kicks, whipping their legs out to strike the Harpies. All of the Harpies were defeated by the bone-crushing kicks.

"Fine," Orthros said, "I'll do it myself."

He slowly marched forward to face the Rangers.

* * *

The Gold Ranger spun his staff around for a quick strike at a Harpie before sidekicking another one into a garbage can, causing it to fall over and it's contents to scatter all over the sidewalk.

"Diana's gonna kill me…" Adrian thought as he looked at the wind picking up the trash and littering it everywhere.

Nate noticed his distraction and broke off from the fighting. He ran over and clubbed his fist on the Gold Ranger's helmet, "hey, buddy!" Nate shouted at him, "the fighting's this way."

"What? Oh, right," the Gold Ranger said as he turned around to face the Harpies again, who just stood there looking confused.

"What are you waiting for? Attack!" Orthros shouted as he pointed at the Rangers. The Harpies obeyed, flying up and off the ground for a airborne strike.

"I have an idea!" the Gold Ranger shouted, "give me your trident!"

"What? No way!" Nate said as he gripped the trident in his hands tighter, "I'm not giving you nothing, Mr. High and Mighty!"

"Oh, just give it here," the Gold Ranger said as he pried Nate's hands off the trident and put it in his bow. As Nate stood there in shock that he had been so easily disarmed, the Gold Ranger drew back the bow string and aimed carefully at the flying Harpies.

"Trident Arrow with Sun Power!" the Gold Ranger shouted as he fired the arrow at the group of foes. The trident began to rotate until it turned into a drill spraying water around it, causing all of the Harpies' wings to become wet. The Harpies screeched as they plummeted to the ground. They blew up in a large fireball of energy as the two Rangers posed in front of it. The Gold Ranger extended his hand and the trident flew right into it before the Gold Ranger offered it to Nate.

"I believe this is yours," he said as Nate took the trident back.

"Big deal!" Orthros said as he stepped through the ash that had been his minions, "I can still destroy the two of you."

"Make that three!" the Silver Ranger said as she stepped out of the alleyway. Her helmet was back in place, hiding her identity from Nate. She summoned her bow and transformed it into her daggers again before charging at Orthros.

"Not again!" the Gold Ranger shouted as he blocked her way, "that's how you got hurt in the first place! You never learn!"

"Get outta my way!" the Silver Ranger shouted, "that monster needs someone to knock that smirk off his...helmet?"

"That expression doesn't really work here," Nate remarked.

"Shut up, you!" the Silver Ranger retorted as she walked up and put her finger up to his helmet, "no one asked for your help, so go take a hike!"

"Uh, sis?" the Gold Ranger said, "I kind of did actually ask for his help."

"Whatever," the Silver Ranger said, "now let's kick this monster's...whoa!"

Orthros had come up and was standing right in front of the Rangers, "you done yet? You are in the middle of a fight."

The Silver Ranger slashed across his helmet with her daggers in response, creating a gash in the armor. In the gash, Nate could see what looked like an actual dog face with pointy teeth and black fur.

"Go for the helmet!" the Silver Ranger shouted to her two allies. Both nodded, with the Gold Ranger jabbing the knight in the stomach, knocking him to the ground, before Nate stabbed his trident into the gash, causing massive damage to the knight's face. Nate rolled away as Orthros blew up in a ball of fire.

"Bad dog," Nate quipped as he posed in front of the explosion.

"Alright, good job...where'd they go?" Nate asked as he looked around, but the Gold and Silver Rangers were gone.

* * *

"Whoa!" Jay shouted as he rolled out of the way from a scimitar swipe. The Rangers had done their best to defeat Orthros, but the best strategy seemed to be dodging his attacks until he tired out.

"I detest this plan!" Mera shouted as she backflipped away from another strike, "we do not even know if he will get tired like we will! We should be on the attack instead of playing defensively."

"If you know how to get past that armor, be my guest," Jay said, "we need a way to create a weak spot."

"Let's try this!" Valerie said as Victor handed off his hammer for her to launch in her bow.

"Blacksmith Arrow! Fire!" Valerie cried as the hammer went flying and smashed right into the knight's armor, cracking it is several places.

"Critical Strike!" Mera shouted as her glowing spear stuck her foe, exposing it's weaknesses in the cracks even more.

"Lightning Slash!" Jay shouted as he raised his sword to the sky, red lightning striking it, before bringing it down in a powerful two-handed slash. Red electricity surged through the knights body going from the cracks in his armor to his true body within the armor. The Rangers turned around and posed in front of the fiery explosion behind them.

"That's another knight down," Jay remarked, "Echidna's going to start running out soon."

* * *

"Another failure," Echidna sighed, obviously exasperated with her loss again, "what will it take for us to win a battle?" she asked as she looked at the 4 remaining knights.

"Perhaps we should wait for another perfect opportunity," Gryphon suggested, "I'm sure the Caucasian Eagle, the Crommyonian Boar, the Chimera and I can find the perfect times to strike."

"You had better," Echidna said, "or Hades will never let me hear the end of it!"

* * *

"Good job today," Hermes said as the teens returned to base. He was at the mosaic computer, typing away in ancient Greek glyphs. The teens walked up to the god and watched as the glyphs went flying away to different corners of the screen.

"Another failure," Victor noted, "the Olympian Gem Tracker doesn't seem to want to work."

Mera pulled a book out of her bag, "well I found this book and…"

At that point Nate began to tune everyone else out and walked over to a training dummy, "with them busy working on the tracker and the two lovebirds back on their date, where does that leave me?"

* * *

A few hours later, at the restaurant, Jay and Valerie walked out of the twin doors hand in hand.

"That went pretty well," Jay said as the two headed down the sidewalk to the park.

"It went very well," Valerie said as the two sat down on a bench in the park and she rested her head on his shoulder.

"I guess we're boyfriend-girlfriend now?" Jay asked.

"Give it a few more dates," Valerie said, "then we'll see".

"Hey, you're in charge," Jay said, "you decide how fast or slow we take this."

"Right now," Valerie said, "I just want to enjoy the park at night."

"I think I can do that," Jay agreed.

The two sat there for a while, enjoying the silence and each other's company.

**Romantic scenes aren't really my thing, but I'm going to try my best with this relationship, as I think they deserve it.**

**I decided to reveal the identities of the Gold and Silver Rangers now (actually it was back in chapter 5 if you missed it before) because it's almost always been a mystery to both the viewer and characters, so I wanted to try it with the viewer/reader knowing but the character not.**

**Until next time, May the Power Protect You!**


	10. Pigheaded

**I could give you a history lesson on the ownership of Power Rangers (Saban, Disney, Saban again, and Hasbro), but you should just know I don't own them!**

**Hi! I'm not dead! I just got caught up with school, work and, worst of all, writer's block! Anyway, here's good ol' chapter 10.**

**Power Rangers Olympian Force Chapter 10: Being Pig-Headed**

Jay Parker sighed as Nate Seymor and Mera Cadwalader glared at each other.

"I thought we were past this," he remarked, "I thought you two had worked this out and could be civil to each other again."

"What are you two even mad about?" Valerie said as she sat down at her new seat next to Jay.

"Butt out!" Mera and Nate shouted together as they maintained their staring contest.

Victor just sat there confused, "you two had been fine for a week. what changed?"

"Halloween is in 2 weeks, does that have anything to do with it?" Jay asked. He got death glares in response from both teens.

"Speaking of Halloween," Valerie said, "My parents are throwing a party at my house, and all of you are invited."

"So I can either be out on the streets alone, or stuck at a party with her?" Nate asked as he gestured to Mera, "give me a minute, I'm trying to pick the lesser of the two evils…"

"Come on, you two," Jay said, "if we show any form of weakness, the Dark Order will send another one of their knights to attack us. It's basically a formula at this point!"

* * *

As he was saying this, he didn't know how right he was. For deep in the Underworld, Echidna was scheming while watching the rangers in her magic round table.

"The Rangers show another one of their weaknesses," she remarked, "we must use this to our advantage. If we can get the Blue and Yellow Rangers to face one of you alone, they will fall due to their infighting. Now, who to choose…"

"Mother," the pig-helmeted knight said, "The Crommyonian Sow will defeat the Rangers for you!"

"Yes…" Echidna said, deep in thought, "Yes! Your strength will be enough to force away even the Gold and Silver Rangers! Especially once you eat this," Echidna pulled a Golden Apple from seemingly empty air.

"I thank you for this gift, and promise to use it to bolster my natural strength in battle!"

"Just go!" Echidna shouted as she pointed at the exit, "and bring me the Blue and Yellow Rangers' helmets as proof of your victory!"

* * *

Later that night, at Jay's house, both Jay and Valerie were watching a movie together while sharing a bowl of popcorn.

"So you're saying some guy decided to make a gritty, down-to-earth Power Rangers movie?" Valerie asked, her eyes shifting towards Jay before going back to the screen.

"Yeah," Jay said, "the worst part is that they turned it into some 'Breakfast Club' story!"

"I noticed that," Valerie said, "and it's been 40 minutes and we've seen the Ranger suits like, what, twice in as many minutes?"

"Wait 'til you see the zords, they don't even look like dino…"

Just as Jay was about to finish his sentence, his morpher sounded off. Jay sighed as he sat up and paused the movie.

"Yes?" he said in an annoyed voice.

"This is Victor," Victor said over the morpher, "I think I've figured out my Olympian Gem Scanner! Come quick!"

"We're coming," Jay said as he and Valerie stood up, "just open a door for us." The two opened the door to the basement, which was glowing blue, and stepped through into the Temple. Victor was sitting at the mosaic computer with symbols flashing on the screen furiously, Hermes by his side. The doors flew open again to allow both Mera and Nate in.

"Wait, were the two of you in the same location?" Jay asked.

"No!" the two teens shouted together.

Dropping the subject, Jay walked up to stand on the other side of Victor, "what do you got for us, big guy?"

"Watch this," Victor said as he clicked a few runes on the keyboard, "I figured it out!"

A circular radar-like display appeared on the screen, with red, blue, black, pink and yellow circles in the center, and gold and silver ones located to the north.

"Those circles in the center must us," Mera said "and the gold and silver ones…"

"Must be the Gold and Silver Rangers," Nate finished, his arms crossed, "see? I can science too."

"How far away are they from the base?" Jay asked Victor, ignoring Mera and Nate's comments to each other behind his back.

"I'd estimate about...3 miles," Victor said as he clicked a few more keys, "but those are the only Gems I can find, the system can't seem to lock on to any more Gem energies."

"Maybe they have different wavelengths of energy," Valerie said, "they are different colors, right? Colored light lets off a certain wavelength of energy in the Electromagnetic Spectrum."

Everyone looked at her for a moment, "Hey, I pay attention in class sometimes, you know," she said.

"If that theory is correct…" Mera responded, "then the more Gems we have, the less interference we will have from said Gems."

"So basically, the more Gems we have, the easier it will be to find the remaining ones," Jay summarized, "Seems simple enough. Now we just need to get the Gold and Silver Rangers to join us and…"

"Hang on, fearless leader," Nate remarked as the screen changed to one of the Sow Knight attacking downtown, "looks like we have a real _boar_ing task ahead of us."

Everyone sighed at the joke before lining up to morph.

"Ready?" Jay prompted.

"Ready!" the others responded.

"Pink Olympian Power!"

"Yellow Olympian Power!

"Black Olympian Power!"

"Blue Olympian Power!"

"Red Olympian Power!"

In a flash of light, the rangers morphed and ran right through the doors to the crowded city streets at night. The sidewalk was full of civilians running from the evil Knight.

"Imagine how many people must be here for dinner tonight!" Valerie exclaimed.

"We have to make sure everyone gets to safety before we deal with this Dark Order Knight!" Jay ordered.

"You guys can deal with the civilians, I'll deal with the pig!" Nate shouted as he pushed through the waves of people, "'scuse me! Big superhero coming through!"

"Wait, Nate!" Jay shouted as Nate melted into the crowd, "Mera, go after him! We can't let him fight a Dark Order Member on his own!"

"Right!" Mera shouted as she ran into the crowd as well as it swept past the other Rangers, who directed them away.

"This way, quickly!" Valerie shouted as she gestured straight ahead, away from the monster.

"Keep it moving, but remain calm!" Jay said as he gently pushed people forward, "keep going!"

"Uh…" Victor said, "what they said."

* * *

"Hey, pig-face!" Nate shouted as he ran up to meet the Evil Knight head-on, "I've got three trident points with your name on it!"

"One little Ranger?" the Crommyonian Sow asked, "is this some kind of joke? Where are the rest of your Ranger friends?"

"I don't need them!" Nate shouted as he leapt at the monster with his trident raised for a piercing attack through his helmet. To his shock, the points didn't even faze the Knight one bit as he raised a fist to punch Nate. Nate cried out in pain as he went flying into a bench, knocking it over and causing him to fall down even more. He groaned as he rolled onto his back from his side.

"Owwww," he said as he slowly sat up, there were definitely some bruises he would feel tomorrow.

"That could have gone better…" he quipped.

"Nate, are you alright?" Mera shouted as she ran over to pull him up. She helped him stand before punching him in the back of the helmet.

"What was that for!?" Nate shouted as he rubbed the spot she had hit him.

"That was for running off without the rest of the team!" Mera shouted, "and disobeying a direct order!"

"A direct order? What is this, the army?" Nate said, "hah! Soldier Power Rangers! That'll never happen!"

"Can you stop being yourself for five minutes and aid me in vanquishing this foe?" Mera asked.

"Fine," Nate said, "let's take this guy down!"

"Hope you don't mind if we join in!" Jay yelled as he, Valerie and Victor ran up to join their comrades.

"All the civilians are safe," Valerie said, "so we can focus on the Knight now!"

"Two Rangers or five, it makes no difference to me!" the Sow shouted as he summoned his weapon, a medium-sized lance, "I'll gore you all!"

"Obviously this guy doesn't know who we are," Nate joked.

"Let's tell him," Jay responded as they began their roll call.

"Aphrodite, goddess of love! Pink Olympian Ranger!"

"Athena, goddess of wisdom! Yellow Olympian Ranger!"

"Hephaestus, god of the forge! Black Olympian Ranger!"

"Poseidon, god of the sea! Blue Olympian Ranger!"

"Zeus, god of lightning! Red Olympian Ranger!"

"Using the powers of the past to protect the future! Power Rangers Olympian Force!"

"Harpies!" the Crommyonian Sow shouted as the green-feathered monsters swooped in from the skies, "attack!"

The rangers gave a battle cry as they summoned their weapons and charged at the dive-bombing beasts.

Valerie swung her bow around like a makeshift staff, blocked the Harpies' claws before backflipping away. In the middle of her backflip, she pulled back her bowstring and fired multiple pink, glowing arrows at the Harpies' wings, causing multiple to begin plummeting towards the ground.

"Birds of a feather, stick together," she quipped as she continued her assault.

Victor raised his hammer and brought it down in a mighty two-handed swing onto one of the grounded Harpies, turning it to dust.

"If you can't take the heat, get out of the workshop," Victor remarked as he repeated his mighty swing on another helpless monster.

Jay whirled around in a 360 spin with his sword slicing any Harpie stupid enough to get close. He jabbed his sword at the nearest one, pressing the point into its chest.

"Today's forecast calls for a hundred percent chance of lighting!" he shouted as red lightning struck his sword, electrocuting the Harpie it was currently stabbing into.

Nate and Mera were tag teaming against the monster but kept getting in each other's way. When Nate went in for a jab to the helmet with his trident, Mera had already tripped him with a sweep to his ankles. And when Mera tried to hurl her spear like a javelin at the Knight, Nate was in the way, fighting in close combat with the pig.

"Get out of my path!" Mera shouted as she tried to push him aside with her shoulder, "I will fight him now!"

"You should get out of my way!" Nate shouted as he shoulder-checked her back, "I've got 'em!"

As their light pushing turned into a full blown pushing match, the Crommyonian Sow pointed his spear at them and charged right in between them, throwing them to the ground on opposite sides from each other. Jay looked up quickly in shock as the Pig Knight charged right at him. He tried to leap out of the way, but the lance stabbed right into his stomach. Jay demorphed as he hit the ground, the lance remaining lodged in his stomach. He rolled onto his side and coughed up some blood.

"Jay!" Valerie shouted as she ran towards the Crommyonian Sow, "you'll pay for that, you monster!"

"What are you going to do, girlie?" the Crommyonian Sow taunted as he summoned another lance, "especially when you join him in his fate!"

Valerie blocked his first stab with her bow, which snapped in half from the force, but couldn't block the second, which went straight through her right leg. She fell to the ground slowly and demorphed, clutching her injured leg. She dragged herself with her arms and good leg over to Jay's damaged body.

"Hey," he managed to say, "it's ok, just hurts to talk," he stopped for another cough of blood, "and breathe."

"Hang on," she said, "we managed to heal Victor from the MInotaur's explosive charge, we can heal you too."

Victor was too shocked from his friends' wounds to notice the Crommyonian Sow charging at him too. He noticed just in time for the Knight to stab him in the left arm, causing him to fall to his knees and demorph. He was holding his injured arm, grunting at the pain.

The Crommyonian Sow turned around to attack the remaining two Rangers when glowing silver and gold arrows struck him in the back and stuck into his rose gold armor.

"Who did that?" he shouted as two shadowy figures dropped down from a nearby building. They stepped out of the shadows, revealing them to be the Gold and Silver Rangers.

"I would recommend running," the Silver Ranger said as she and the Gold Ranger raised their bows, threatening another barrage of arrows.

The Crommyonian Sow looked around at the injured Rangers, then back at the Gold and Silver Rangers and their drawn bows.

"I'll be returning to finish them off," the Knight threatened before disappearing in a cloud of darkness, not unlike Gryphon's mode of transportation.

The Gold and Silver Rangers relaxed their grip on their bows and sent them to a pocket dimension before coming over to aid Mera and Nate in standing up.

"Are you alright?" the Gold Ranger asked as he helped Mera to her feet.

"I am fine," Mera said, "but we need to take our friends to our base. Could you help us move them there?"

Nate cleared his throat and walked over next to Mera, "what are you doing?" he whispered, "we can't just take them to our base!"

"If Hermes opens a door for us, we will not have to worry about them knowing the location," Mera countered. The two glared at each other for a moment before Nate caved.

"Fine, but if this goes south, don't say I didn't warn you!" he said as he put up his hands in surrender.

"You two done yet?" the Silver Ranger asked impatiently, "because we have other things to do besides saving your butts once a week."

"Hermes," Mera said into her morpher, "we require a door."

Victor managed to stand himself up and walked over to the door, opening it with his good arm, and holding it open for the 4 other Rangers to carry Jay and Valerie through. Hermes met them at the doors as they closed behind them.

"Bring them to the medical center, quickly!" he shouted as he flew over to said room. Inside was the same line of beds as the last time the Rangers were there, along with the IV bags full of the strange "nectar" liquid.

Hermes landed on the ground and set up an IV drip. Nate and the Gold Ranger gently laid Jay on the bed. Right now he appeared to be falling in and out of consciousness. Valerie looked over in concern as she was laid on the bed next to his.

"C'mon Jay! Stay with us!" Nate shouted as he smacked Jay's face lightly. Jay just groaned in response. "What are you waiting for?" Nate shouted, "start healing him!"

"I'll do what I can," Hermes said, "but we'd need Apollo himself to ensure a full and speedy recovery."

"What about someone with the powers of Apollo?" the Gold Ranger asked, "could I do something?"

"That could work..." Hermes mutter to himself before speaking at a normal volume again, "Apollo's powers came from his staff, so we need to use yours."

The Gold Ranger summoned his bow and changed it to staff mode before raising it into the air. A gold aura appeared around one end of it in the form of a ball of energy. The ball of energy floated over from the staff and into Jay as Hermes pulled out the lance. The big cavity in his chest quickly closed, leaving Jay fully healed, but still unconscious.

The Gold Ranger fell to his knees, weak from all of the energy he had exerted to heal the Red Ranger. The Silver Ranger ran over to his side.

"Are you alright, brother?" she asked, concerned.

"I'll live," the Gold Ranger said, out of breath.

"Looks like we'll have to heal a different way," Valerie said, "The nectar will work, right?" she asked.

"It will," Hermes said, "but it'll take time."

"Well, while they heal," the Silver Ranger said, "someone has to make sure that pig doesn't attack again."

The two turned to walk out when Mera spoke up, "please stay," she requested, "we need all of the aid we can get."

"The answer is still no," the Silver Ranger said, "you'll just slow the two of us down."

The two ran through the opening doors and were gone. Mera took off her helmet as soon as they left and gave a sigh of exasperation and defeat.

"What do we do?" Nate asked, "the two of us can't seem to work together for five minutes, much less an entire battle."

"We have to do what we always do," Mera said, "push forward."

* * *

The next morning, before school, Mera and Nate visited their injured friends again. Victor had a cut on his hand that was quickly healing, while Valerie was almost able to move her leg again. Jay had finally regained consciousness, but appeared to still be in pain.

"Hey, hotshot," Jay said as he looked over at Nate.

"How're you doing, fearless leader?" Nate asked as he walked over to Jay's bedside.

"I've been better," Jay said as he gingerly turned to look at Nate, "look, the three of us are in no shape to fight. Victor can't hold his hammer, Valerie can't walk, and I'm, well, like this."

"If that Knight attacks again, we're in trouble," Nate admitted, "Mera and I just can't talk to each other without arguing, much less fight together."

"I need you two to find a way...agh!" he shouted as he clutched his side, "find a way to work together, team up with the Gold and Silver Rangers and defeat that son of a...ow!" he grunted in pain again.

"We'll find a way to win," Nate said, "I promise."

* * *

Nate sighed. It just wasn't the same with only two people at the table. He looked across at Mera as she ate a forkful of salad. He was about to say something when Adrian and Diana walked up.

"Hey, where's the rest of your group?" Adrian asked in concern, "it's strange to only see two in a group of five."

"Uh...they're...sick," Nate said.

"Mm hm," Adrian said, apparently unconvinced, "well, let us know when they come back."

"Or not," Diana said, her arms crossed, "I don't really care."

"Be nice," Adrian said as they walked away before lowering his voice to a whisper, "they didn't heal as quickly as we thought. We may need to aid the Rangers again."

"Why does that winged-sandal guy make us help them?" Diana said, "they obviously can't figure anything out, like us being Rangers too."

"If we want to help save the world, we have to help them," Adrian answered, "in the end, they'll be the ones to defeat Hades."

"I know you claim that you can see the future now," Diana said, "but I still think you're just making it up to convince me to save those pathetic Rangers."

"Only time will tell how long they will need us to save them. They grow stronger by the day. The question is, will it be enough?"

* * *

Nate sighed as he walked down the street. The job of leadership had fallen to him again. He may have wanted to be leader originally, but he had found it was a lot harder than he thought. Now he had to work together with Mera to defeat a Knight with armor shaped like a pig.

He looked up to see that he had somehow made it all the way to the beach on the Atlantic Ocean. He walked up the pier and looked into the salty water, contemplating his new responsiblities.

"Something on your mind?" a voice said.

Nate whirled around to see a fisherman sitting on the pier, his pole extended and his line in the water. The fisherman's white beard swung a bit in the breeze along with the rest of his long white hair. His skin was tan from a long time in the sun.

"Just thinking," Nate said.

"About what?" the man asked, his bushy eyebrows raising in question.

"If you had to work with somebody that you really didn't get along with, how would you go about it?" Nate asked.

"I would focus on the task at hand, and just realize that sometimes, you don't like everybody and that's ok. You just have to be civil and get the job done. Does that help?" he asked.

"It does," Nate says, "thanks, now…"

He looked down at his morpher as it sounded off.

"I have to go," he said, "thanks for the advice!"

"No problem!" the man shouted back. He turned back around to his fishing pole, his sea-green eyes twinkling in the light reflecting off the sea.

* * *

"Hermes said the Knight was seen around here," Mera said as both she and Nate, already morphed, examined the area.

"I'm not seeing it now," Nate said, "kind of strange how a huge warrior like that can just disappear into thin air. I guess we scared him off."

"Think again!" a voice said as a lance was launched at Mera.

"Look out!" Nate said as he threw himself at Mera, knocked both of them to the ground. The lance went flying past and stuck into a wall behind where the Rangers had just been.

Mera looked up at the weapon stuck in the wall and back at the Crommyonian Sow, who had just stepped out of the shadows, "thank you," she said to Nate.

"No problem, now let's avenge our friends!" Nate said as the Rangers got up and summoned their weapons.

"Battle Spear!"

"Ocean Trident!"

"Since he likes throwing weapons at us, let's send some presents of our own!" Nate said as both he and Mera hurled their weapons at the Crommyonian Sow. The two weapons managed to hit the same spot, causing a hole to be created in the armor. The Crommyonian Sow pulled the weapons out of his chest armor and threw them to the ground.

"Let's see how you do without your weapons!" he taunted.

"I'll go for the weapons, you attack him," Nate whispered to Mera.

"I think it would work better if we flip it, and you attack while I retrieve the weapons," Mera said.

Nate was about to argue before remembering the old man's advice, 'fine, let's just be civil and get the job done,' he thought.

"Fine," he responded, "let's move!"

Nate charged at the Dark Order member and grabbed the handle of his lance, trying to wrest control of it from the Knight. Meanwhile, Mera ran and did a combat roll to roll under the Knight's legs and grabbing the weapons as she passed.

"Nate!" she shouted, "catch!"

Nate reached out for the trident that Mera threw into his waiting hand. He raised it with one arm, with the other holding the lance handle, and brought it down in a mighty stab into the small hole in the armor. The Crommyonian Sow shouted in pain as he fell to his knees while trying to pull out the trident that Nate forced deeper into the Knight.

"Monster vanquished!" Mera shouted as the two posed in front of the explosion that the Crommyonian Sow created.

The two Rangers began to congratulate each other on a job well done before turning around to see the Crommyonian Sow was still alive.

"What?" Nate shouted, "how did he survive that?"

"The better question is, what is he doing?" Mera said.

The Crommyonian Sow opened up his hand to reveal the Golden Apple, which was glowing. He opened his helmet, revealing an actual pig face, and ate the apple. He closed his eyes and open them to reveal that they were glowing with a golden light. As the Rangers looked on in shock, the Crommyonian Sow grew to the size of a small skyscraper.

"Someone fattened that pig up in the wrong direction," Nate quipped.

"On a more serious note, what are we going to do?" Mera asked, "the two of us can't pilot 5 zords to create a Megazord, so unless you want to fight him with our individual  
zords…"

"Let us handle this!" a voice shouted behind the Rangers. They turned around to see the Gold and Silver Rangers, bows in hand, ready to fight.

"Summon Raven Zord!" the Gold Ranger shouted as he fired off his golden arrow into the air.

"Summon Deer Zord!" the Silver Ranger shouted as she fired her silver arrow into the air.

Portals opened where the arrows arced their highest, and a golden raven and silver deer flew and ran respectively out of those portals. The Gold and Silver Rangers ran up and leapt into the zords before inserting their Olympian Gems into the proper spaces.

"Zords, combine!" the two shouted as the zords moved into proper formation: the Raven flying directly over the Deer.

The Deer stood up on its hind legs, which unfolded to become thicker. It's front legs turned 90 degrees to look like human arms on the shoulder joint. The arms also expanded to become larger. The body of the Deer opened up, with the head becoming part of the chestplate. The Raven swooped in, with the wings detaching to create a bow, and filled in the giant hole in the zord, creating the shoulders and head. The Raven head slid up to reveal a robot face inside and create a hood.

"Gemini Megazord: Gold Mode!" the two shouted as the Megazord grabbed the golden bow from it's back made out of the Raven's wings. It pulled back the bowstring to create a giant glowing gold arrow that it aimed at the Crommyonian Sow.

"Gemini Arrow...fire!" the two Rangers shouted as the mighty arrow was launched from the bow. The arrow punched a hole right in the middle of the Knight, who fell to the ground in a fiery explosion.

"Wow," was the only thing Mera could say.

"I want one!" Nate joked.

* * *

"And that's what happened," Nate finished. He was telling the injured Rangers all about the battle. Victor's hand had a small bruise and Valerie's leg was almost fully healed. Only Jay remained bed-ridden.

"So they had a Megazord…" Jay said pensively, "very interesting, I thought that only we had zords."

"I guess not," Valerie said, "the question is…"

"Where did they get them?" Mera finished, "from here."

"Whoa. Back up a minute," Nate said, "they got it from here?"

"I think Hermes knows more about these Rangers than he's letting on," Jay said, "and we need to figure out what that is, fast."

**Reviews are nice! Until next time, may the power protect you!**


	11. Birds on the Brain

**Yay over 1000 views!**

**Hi! I'm not dead! But you would probably think that, what with me abandoning this series and my Doctor Who series: The Iron Cage for a few months(shameless plug for the win!) However, it's just that I'm in college now, and the workload has been all over the place in difficulty, so stuff may have been harder before than it is now, or teachers pile on work all due the same week… I'm probably just boring you, so here's the bottom line: **

**I AM NOT ABANDONING THIS SERIES!**

**I plan to see it through to about 25-32 episodes/chapters, and then maybe move on to a new series. Now, I am not a professional writer, this is not my entire life. Chapters come out when they come out, but let's say tentatively at least once a month.**

**As always, thanks go to JTWAS1994 for his reviews, and even asking if I was OK when I didn't write for months.**

**Anyway, on with the story. Go Go Power Rangers!**

**Power Rangers Olympian Force Chapter 11: Birds on the Brain**

"Are we there yet?" Nate asked as he looked at the two other passengers he was squished in between: Mera and Victor.

"Hey, if you have a problem with the seating arrangement, I'm sure you could just walk to the zoo," Jay replied, "it's only a good 10 miles from the main town."

Nate grumbled and scrunched down in his seat.

"Hey, Victor," he said, "can't you move over anymore? You're literally hogging half the seats."

"Oi! Give him a break!" Mera snapped on Nate's other side, "can you not see that you complaining is making him most uncomfortable?"

"Ok, children, keep it down back there," Jay joked as he looked at the three through his rearview mirror, "kids these days, am I right?"

"I have no problem with Victor." Valerie said as she shifted in the front passenger seat, "but Nate and Mera are just giving me a headache."

"Perhaps a game of 'I Spy'?" Victor suggested.

"Fine," Nate said, "I'll go first, I spy with my little eye something...stupid. Oh, wait, it's this game! Nobody wins, everyone goes home."

"We asked if you wanted to come to the zoo," Jay said as he pulled into the main zoo parking lot, "and you said yes. You can't blame us that you apparently changed your mind."

"I wanted to come," Nate sulked as he and everyone else go out of Jay's car, "but I didn't think you would invite them."

His barbed comment was to the teens walking towards them.

"I invited them because I think we need to be more friendly with them," Jay said, "I was actually going to invite them to our table at school."

"But then we can't talk about you-know-what," Valerie pointed out.

"I didn't say it was perfect," Jay said aside to her before addressing the teens in front of him, "Adrian and Diana, thanks for coming."

"Glad to come!" Adrian said, "now Diana, what do we say to them for inviting us?...Diana?"

He looked next to him to see Diana was gone.

"Where'd she go?" Jay asked.

"Diana may not seem like it, but she loves nature, and the zoo is a place full of nature. My guess is she's already inside," Adrian said, gesturing to the main entrance, "we might as well follow her in."

* * *

"Hey, big guy," Diana said as she put a hand on the glass. The tiger on the other side looked up at the hand before putting it's head back onto it's paws.

The guard looked up from his phone for a moment, "hey! No hands on the glass!" he barked before quickly returning to his phone.

"Whatever," Diana responded, removing her hand from the glass, "the tiger didn't seem to care."

She turned towards the door as the wind blew several green feathers inside. Diana glared at the feathers, "either the zoo got a new green bird, or the zoo has some unexpected guests."

She ran out the door to see several Harpies trashing the zoo, tipping over trash cans and causing general mayhem. She looked over to her left to see, against all of the people fleeing towards the exits, her brother and the other teens. The teens joined up in front of the Harpies.

"Sorry," Jay shouted, "but I think I need to see your tickets!"

The Harpies turned, leaped into the air and flew at the teens. All of the teens combat-rolled out of the way of the green-feathered monsters before standing up, now in fighting stances.

"Jay," Nate hissed next to Jay's ear, "we need to find somewhere to morph away from those two."

"Working on it," Jay responded before turning around, "there's too many, we should run!"

The other Ranger-teens turned and looked at him with a strange look, "what?" they all said together.

"Just roll with it," Jay whispered, "we need to find somewhere to Ranger up."

All of the teens, including Adrian and Diana, ran away from the beasts and turned down a corner.

"Alright, Adrian," Jay said, "you and Diana go that way, and the rest of us go this way, it'll make it harder to catch us all."

Adrian nodded, thinking of how he and his sister needed to find a place to morph as well, away from the other teens. The teens turned and split up into their two groups. Each group only went about three houses in their given direction before ducking into the alley and pulling out their morphers.

"Ready?" Jay said as he moved to the front of the group.

"Ready!" the four other Rangers agreed.

"Pink Olympian Power!"

"Yellow Olympian Power!"

"Black Olympian Power!"

"Blue Olympian Power!"

"Red Olympian Power!"

In a flash of colored light, the Rangers stepped out of the alley and ran around the corner, towards the Harpies.

The Harpies looked up in surprise as the Rangers came in with leaping kicks, knocking the beasts back to earth. As more flew down to try and aid their fallen brethren, they were swiftly slammed into the stone pathways by the Ranger's strong strikes.

Jay flipped over some Harpies before spin back-kicking one into the nearest wall and roundhouse kicking the others away. Valerie slid between the legs of a Harpy before karate chopping it to the ground. Nate whirlwind-kicked some green feathered beasts in the face, causing them to crumple to the ground. Mera cartwheeled around a clawed strike and punched the Harpy to the ground. Victor raised his arm and hammer-fisted a Harpy into the bricks, cracking them with the force of his blow.

The Rangers heard a shout and looked around to see golden and silver arrows flying into the Harpie's flanks, causing them to fall to the ground. The Rangers looked up to see the Gold and Silver Rangers on the roof of one of the buildings, sniping out Harpies with their bows.

"The cavalry has arrived!" the Gold Ranger announced as he drew back his bowstring again before hitting another Harpy with an arrow of golden light.

"Just stay out of our way," the Silver Ranger said as she sniped a Harpy flying towards the two Rangers.

"We should summon our weapons too," Valerie said as the Rangers put their hands out, awaiting the weapons.

"Love Bow!"

"Battle Spear!"

"Blacksmith Hammer!"

"Ocean Trident!"

"Lightning Sword!"

The Rangers shifted into battle-ready stances and charged. Jay flipped over two Harpies before striking them down with his red-sparking sword. He whirled around to slash another one attempting a sneak attack on him before watching a pink glowing energy arrow strike the Harpy in the chest.

"Thanks, Val," he said to the Pink Ranger as he moved towards his next opponents.

Victor slammed his hammer into the side of a Harpy's head with a horizontal smash, before switching to a vertical smashing attack to plunge it into the ground. The crack that appeared swallowed up a few more Harpies, but the force of the attack also shattered the glass in a shockwave around him. Victor looked on in terror as a bunch of different types of birds flew out of the Bird House. He covered his ears through his helmet and cowered on the ground.

"Victor?" Valerie asked as she noticed her fearful teammate, "hold on!"

Valerie leapt into the air, doing a flip before shooting an arrow at one of the Harpies trying to take advantage of Victor's fear. The Harpy shrieked as it attempted to pull the energy arrow out of it's chest before collapsing to the ground in defeat.

Nate and Mera fought back to back, jabbing and spinning their respective weapons over the waves of foes. Mera leapt onto Nate's shoulders before coming down with a hard jab with her spear, striking a Harpy on its shoulder and causing it to fall down in pain, gripping its injured shoulder with its wing.

The Harpies then realized how much the odds were against them and quickly flew away.

"Yeah, you better run!" Nate shouted as he shook his fist at the fleeing minions.

"Hey, guys!" Valerie shouted, still kneeling down next to Victor, "I think something's wrong with him. There were some birds during the fight and he ended up like this."

"He is in a catatonic state," Mera stated, "it is normal caused by traumatizing experiences, or when the patient is reminded of one."

"I know what a catatonic state is," Valerie snapped, "I just don't know how to break someone out of it."

She turned to Victor and shook him by the shoulder, "Victor, come back to us," she said to her catatonic teammate.

Victor suddenly jolted and looked around rapidly while panting, "birds? Where are the birds?"

"They're gone," Jay reassured as he kneeled down in front of Victor, "I think we need to talk about this at base. Let's meet up with the twins and tell them we have to go somewhere."

The Rangers looked around and noticed that the Gold and Silver Rangers were gone. With no one around, the Rangers de-morphed in a flash of light and were now back in their civilian outfits.

They quickly ran back to the alley they had morphed in before and slowly walked out.

"I hope it's safe," Jay said as the teens walked towards the battlefield.

"You missed the Power Rangers," Adrian said as he walked up to the group with Diana right behind him, "they defeated the Harpies."

"With a little help from the Gold and Silver Rangers," Diana said.

"Yeah, well, I think that's enough excitement for one day," Jay said, "we have somewhere we have to go…"

"Could you be any more vague?" Diana questioned.

"No, not really," Victor deadpanned as the five teens walked away from the twins.

"We'll see you tomorrow, k?" Valerie said as she waved while still walking with the group.

* * *

"I'd say that the attack was a success," Echidna said as she looked down at the magic screen in the table."

"Forgive me, mother, but how was that successful?" Gryphon questioned, "I just see defeated Harpies."

"Once again, the Rangers show weakness," Echidna explained, "the Black Ranger is afraid of birds, now where can we find a bird-themed monster?"

"Uh...me?" the Onyx Eagle Knight said as he scratched his helmet with his claw on his hand.

"Yes you, you birdbrain!" the Golden Chimera Knight said as he forced the Eagle Knight to stand up.

"Good," Echidna said, "now take this and some Harpies to the surface, and defeat those do-gooders!"

The Caucasian Eagle looked down at the golden apple in his hand, "you want me to eat this now?" he asked as he cocked his head to the side.

"No, you idiot, save it for when the Rangers defeat you, you'll give them a giant surprise!" Echidna cackled, "now go before you say something else stupid!"

* * *

"You're scared of birds?" Nate asked as the Rangers walked through the Doors of Janus into the Temple, "seriously?"

Mera gave him a swift punch to the arm, "be polite!" she snapped.

"So you're scared of birds...but the Zords are fine?" Jay asked. He frowned when Victor nodded, "that doesn't make things confusing at all…"

"Don't worry about it, Victor," Valerie said as she patted his shoulder reassuringly, "everyone's scared of something."

"Not me!" Nate announced, "I'm not scared of nothin'!"

"That's not true," Jay said as he pulled out his phone, "I know you're scared of…"

"SHARKS!" Nate said as he ran from Jay's phone which currently was showing a video of sharks eating some chum.

"I'm scared of snakes," Jay admitted.

"TIght places are most uncomfortable for me," Mera said.

"And I do not do heights, like at all," Valerie added.

"But the best thing we can do with fears are attempt to overcome them by facing them head-on," Jay said sagely.

"I'll admit that everyone has a fear, but I don't know if there's any fear worse than birds when it comes to the Dark Order," Hermes announced as he typed on the mosaic computer, "one of their members is the Caucasian Eagle, most famous for eating Prometheus' liver everyday until Hercules saved him."

Victor flinched away at the picture of the eagle doing exactly what Hermes described.

"Yuck," Valerie noted, "he won't be going for our livers, right?"

"Highly unlikely, especially when morphed," Mera responded, "but if we are to fight that creature, it will likely take all of us to defeat it."

"Which means helping Victor overcome his fear," Jay said, "easier said than done."

"Well, let's get started," Valerie said as she reached into her bag for a notebook, "time for my first real patient."

* * *

"My lord, where are we going?" Persephone asked as she and Hades trudged up a mountain in the Underworld.

"We're going to the Spartoi growing grounds in the Fields of Mourning," Hades explained, "I need to make improvements to them if my plan is to succeed."

The two stopped at the top of the mountain and looked down. Persephone gasped at the sight. As fair as the eye could see was long fields with Spartoi planting dragon teeth in the ground. In a few seconds, a Spartoi would pop out of the ground where the tooth had been. The new Spartoi then walked to join a whole battalion of them just standing in front of the fields, waiting.

"The suffering of the mortals who souls came to rest here along with Sanzu water cause the Spartoi to multiply very quickly," Hades explained, "now come, there is much left to be done."

Persephone only gulped as she followed Hades down the trail towards the Spartoi.

* * *

"So, when did you first encounter birds?" Valerie asked. She was seated across from Victor in a chair, while he was lying on a couch.

As Victor answered, Nate leaned over to Jay and whispered, "why does this look like some cliche psychiatrist set-up?"

"It's what Valerie asked for," Jay responded.

"That's enough from the peanut gallery," Valerie said as she glared over at the two boys leaning against two pillars, watching, "now, continue, Victor."

"So, there I was surrounded by birds, and then they started cawing at me. Then one swooped down and started pecking me, and more joined in. Next thing I knew, I was crawling away from the forest covered in peck marks. I swore to avoid birds at all costs. Guess my brain took that a bit too literally."

"Now that we know where the trauma comes from," Valerie said, "we can try some exposure therapy."

"What does that mean?" Victor asked nervously.

"It means this," Mera said as she came around from behind the couch with a birdcage.

"Wait...I don't know if I'm ready for this…" Victor said as he slowly scooted away from the cage.

Mera looked at Valerie for a moment, "just so you are aware, June said she wants the bird back by 5:00, and I would assume in one piece."

Mera opened the cage and watched as the smallest yellow bird anyone had ever seen flew onto her finger, "it is very well trained," she said, "nothing to be terrified by."

Victor looked at the bird and continued his scooting down the couch, "get that thing away from me…"

"Victor, it's just a cute little bird, it won't even peck you," Valerie said, "I want you to put out your finger and just let the bird land on it. I promise nothing will happen to you."

Victor trembled as he put his finger out. The bird flew off of Mera's finger and onto Victor's. As soon as the bird made contact, Victor let out a massive scream.

"Get it off! Get it off!" he shouted as he ran around trying to shake the bird off his finger, with Valerie and Mera chasing after him.

"This is the strangest therapy I've ever seen," Nate commented.

Jay simply nodded, "me too."  
The two boys looked up at the mosaic screen as the alarm went off.

"We got trouble," Jay said, "get the bird off Victor and let's get going."

* * *

"Uh...run in humans, terror!" the Eagle Knight said as he and a group of Harpies marched up the street, "that doesn't sound right..." The Harpies all looked at him and shook their heads.

"Hold it!" Jay shouted as the teens ran up to confront the Knight.

Victor turned white as a sheet when he saw the Caucasian Eagle. "Bird!" he shouted, "big bird!"

"Think that names copyrighted, buddy," Nate fake-whispered.

"Enough small talk, it's morphing time!" Jay shouted as the Rangers prepared their morphers.

"Pink Olympian Power!"

"Yellow Olympian Power!"

"Black Olympian Power!"

"Blue Olympian Power!"

"Red Olympian Power!"

The Rangers were surrounded in a burst of light as they charged before emerging in their Ranger forms.

"Victor, Valerie, you get the Harpies. Leave the Eagle to the three of us!" Jay ordered.

The Rangers summoned their weapons as they split up.

"Love Bow!"

"Battle Spear!"

"Blacksmith Hammer!"

"Ocean Trident!"

"Lightning Sword!"

The Rangers charged at their selected opponents. Jay struck first with a quick slash with his sword as he ran past the Eagle. Nate and Mera struck next by jabbing with their long weapons to stab at his wings. The weapons all just bounced off the hard Onyx armor.

"Just focus on the Harpies," Valerie shouted as she flipped over some Harpies before sniping them with her bow, "pretend like the Eagle isn't even there."

If Victor was listening, he was showing no signs of it, as he just slammed his hammer into Harpy heads again and again, sending them face-first into the pavement.

"Look out below!" Valerie shouted as she flipped up to a higher firing height before launching an arrow into the sky. As the arrow completed it's arc, it split into hundreds of little arrows that pierced the Harpies while bouncing off Victor's armor.

"Valerie, we could use some help over here!" Jay shouted as he slashed again and again at various points in the Caucasian Eagle's armor while still making no headway.

"Here I come!" Valerie shouted as she landed on the road before charging at the Knight. However, her arrows appeared as effective as any of the other attacks.

"Let's try a Trident Arrow!" Nate suggested as he handed off his weapon to Valerie.

"Trident Arrow! Launch!" the two shouted as the trident went flying towards the Eagle. The Eagle looked straight at the incoming weapon with a confused look.

"What's this?" he asked as the trident still bounced off his armor and landed on the ground, "if you want to play catch, here you go!" he said as he threw the trident back at the two. Due to their proximity to each other, both were hit by the trident. They both fell down as their armor was blasted with sparks from the damage of the weapon.

"This guy is dumber than a bag of bricks, and he's still beating us!" Nate said as he slammed his fist into the ground in frustration as he attempted to rise. Valerie just groaned in agreement.

"Lighting Sword Blast!" Jay shouted as lightning struck his sword before he directed it at the Eagle. The Eagle just looked at the lightning as it struck the two sai he was holding the entire fight. The two sai were now surrounded in crackling lightning.

"Forgot I had these," he admited, "but I guess I may as well use it!" he shouted as he sent the lightning back at Jay, hitting Mera in the process.

Victor looked on in horror as his two remaining allies went down, and he was all alone in facing the Caucasian Eagle.

As he turned and was about to run, Jay's words came back to him.

'The best thing we can do with fears are attempt to overcome them by facing them head-on' Victor remembered as he stood his ground.

"My friends need me…" he said, "so I've got to at least try!"

He turned back and struck a pose.

"Hephestus, god of the forge! Black Olympian Ranger!"

He charged back at the Caucasian Eagle and did a flying kick into him before flipping over him and slamming his hammer into the Eagle's back.

"Huh? What's going on back there?" the Eagle asked as he turned around before turning right into the hammer.

"You take birdbrain to a whole new level!" Jay shouted as the five rangers grouped back up, "and it's time for you to fly far, far away! Olympian Crossbow!"

The Rangers formed the crossbow and Jay and Victor swapped places, with Jay now supporting it and Victor firing it. Victor then infused the Lightning Sword with his own power

"Olympic Anvil Rain! Fire!" he shouted as the Lightning Sword fired into the sky before hundreds of anvils can falling down from the heavens and crushed the Knight.

"Looks like I should have flown the coop!" the Caucasian Eagle shouted as he exploded.

Just as the Rangers turned to leave, there was a golden light as the Caucasian Eagle grew to 50 times his original height.

"I'm grown wings and I'm ready to take flight!" the Eagle shouted as he grew. He had indeed grown wings in decent proportion to his body.

"Uh, Hermes, send the Zords," Jay ordered into his morpher.

"On their way," Hermes said over the morpher as the Zords appeared in the distance.

The Rangers flipped into their Zords and inserted their Olympian Gems into the indentations before turning the dial to "WARRIOR MODE".

"Zords combine!" Jay ordered.

The Bull Zord was the first to change, as the head came off, the body split apart and the legs flipped around 180ᣞ and the front and back legs combined.

The Horse Zord was next, as it's head went into a chest cavity while the front and back legs combined together and connected to the Bull Zord legs, forming a complete waist, legs and feet.

The Eagle Zord was next. As its wings clipped off together in one long arc-shaped piece and it's legs slid into its body before it connected to the Horse Zord, it was now forming the entire body of the combination. The Eagle Zord head screeched and opened up it's mouth to fit the other side of the Bull Zord's head into it, revealing a robotic face.

Next came the Owl Zord. As its head detached from the body and the body detached from the wings, the wings clipped onto the sides of the Eagle Zord and expanded, forming the arms.

Lastly was the Fish Zord. As the entire dorsal fin and tail came off, it popped open completely in half before coming onto the Eagle Zord's body as a chestplate and combining together again. The tail folded into a plume that went onto the Eagle Zord's head to complete the helmet look. The horns from the Bull Zord head attached together and became a straight point before combining with the dorsal fin to create a large spear that went into the left hand. The Owl Zord body lengthened itself a bit before the head slid into a hole in the center, finishing the shield, which went on the right arm.

"Olympian Megazord: Warrior Mode ready!" all five Rangers shouted as they all joined together in a single cockpit. Jay was in the front with Nate diagonally to his right, Victor diagonally on his left, Valerie diagonally behind Nate and Mera diagonally behind Victor.

The Megazord jabbed with it's spear as the Eagle tried to block it with it's arms.

"Hey, knock it off!" the Eagle shouted as it swung its arm down to knock the spear out of the Megazord's hand. The Megazord bent down to pick up the spear and the Eagle slammed it's foot into the Megazord's chest.

"Systems are failing!" Mera announced as the Megazord fell to the ground.

"We need some help, let's call in the Peacock Zord!" Jay ordered. Valerie nodded as she replaced one of her gems with the aqua gem.

The Peacock Zord appeared in front of the Megazord, which had stood up. The left arm came off the Megazord and the Peacock Zord attached, it's feathers creating a fan weapon

"Olympian Megazord: Warrior Mode with Peacock power!" the Rangers shouted.

"Activating Peacock Fan," Valerie said as the blades began to spin, creating a blast of air. The Caucasian Eagle was blasted back by the wind and launched into the air, where it hovered.

"Hey, guess I can actually fly!" the Eagle shouted. He pointed one of his sai at the Peacock arm.

"I liked you the way you were," he commented as he blasted an orb of dark energy at the Peacock. The orb exploded when it made contact, blasting the Peacock Zord off the Megazord and away from the battle.

The Aqua gem in Valerie's console stopped glowing. She removed it and replaced it with her second pink gem.

"Yeahhh, we need a new plan," she commented.

"We need a way to reach the Eagle up there!" Nate shouted as he pointed up into the sky.

"I may have just the thing," Hermes said as he typed away furiously at the mosaic computer, "the burst of energy from Victor's Olympian Gem has allowed the Megazord to call upon a new power: the power of the Icarus Mode."

A new option appeared on the Rangers dials for "ICARUS MODE".

"Let's do it!" Jay said as the Rangers turned their dials to the new mode.

The Megazord launched into the air and the bow made up from the Eagle Zord's wings detached from the back of the Megazord and split into its original wings before reattaching onto the back of the Megazord to form wings to carry it in the sky.

The Megazord flew to the same level as the Caucasian Eagle, who gulped as the machine glared at it with it's glowing eyes.

"Time to take you down to Earth," Jay said as the Megazord prepared it's final strike.

"Too-Close-to-the-Sun Strike!" the Rangers shouted as the Megazord grabbed the Caucasian Eagle with both hands and threw him into the air. The Megazord then grabbed it's spear and flew up above it. An outline of the sun appeared as the Megazord spun it's spear in an arc to perfectly match the sun outline before coming in for a great big stab. The Eagle's armor cracked and shattered in places as the Knight fell to Earth and exploded with the Megazord landing and posing in front of it.

As the Rangers cheered in the cockpit, they didn't see the Gold and Silver Rangers standing up on a building, watching the Megazord's arms lower into rest position.

"They're learning," the Gold Ranger noted.

"But not yet," the Silver Ranger said as she turned away, "let's go."

"Soon, Rangers," the Gold Ranger whispered, "you'll be ready for us to join you before you know it."

* * *

"Man, that Megazord has so many modes and combinations!" Nate exclaimed as the Rangers walked into the Temple.

"I know, it never seems to end," Jay agreed, "our arsenal grows with every battle."

"Another battle well fought, rangers," Hermes said, "now Echidna is only down to the Chimera Knight."

"Don't forget Gryphon," Valerie added, "he looked a lot like the Dark Order Knights when he attacked us before."

"So let's say one, maybe two Knights left, then whatever Hades throws at us," Nate said, "easy peasy."

"Except we almost lose every fight before we narrowly win, " Jay reminded, "these aren't easy battles, we need those Gold and Silver Rangers on our side."

"Agreed," Mera said, "they could lesson our burden."

"Maybe we need to prove ourselves," Victor spoke up. Everyone turned to look at him, "think about it, for every weakness we show, there's a Knight to exploit it, maybe we're actually proving we're capable of defending the world to Echidna, Hades and the two other Rangers."

Everyone pondered that for a moment before Jay spoke up, "then I wonder how they'll challenge us next…"

No one could provide an answer.

**Reviews are always encouraged and appreciated!**


	12. That Stings!

**I don't own Power Rangers, but I would do great things with it if I did.**

**Hey, two chapters in a month? And two chapters I'm rather happy with? I'll take it! In all seriousness, expect this about this constant, at least one chapter a month, maybe two. I want to thank JTWAS1994 for bascially following me through this entire writing journey so far! Anyway, on with the story!**

**Power Rangers Olympian Force Chapter 12: That Stings!**

"Is it me, or are these Harpies just getting easier to beat?" Nate asked as he sidekicked a Harpy aside.

"I think we're getting stronger," Valerie answered as she did a flying kick into another one, sending it flying.

"That makes logical sense to me," Mera said, "the more opponents we beat, the more our strength grows."

"Less chatter, more fighting!" Jay ordered as he did a whirlwind kick into a Harpy, launching it into a wall.

The Harpies were soon forced into a concentrated group as the Rangers regrouped.

"Time to form the Olympian Crossbow!" Jay ordered as the Rangers brought their weapons together. Jay infused the sword with some of his power as the others braced the crossbow.

"Olympic Lightning Storm! Fire!" Jay shouted as the Lightning Sword was launched at their foes. Red lightning came down from the sky and struck the sword, causing a huge explosion of red lightning. When the smoke cleared, the Harpies were gone.

"Not the best way to start the day, but I'll take it," Jay remarked as he stretched while he and the other Rangers demorphed.

"School starts in 20 minutes," Victor reminded as the other Rangers walked away from the former battlefield.

"Shoot!" Jay shouted, "we better get moving or we're going to be late"

* * *

"You're late," Mr Ford said as Jay walked into the classroom, "I don't know how punctuality works these days for teens, but in my day, being on time meant something! Detention!"

"Seems a little harsh…" Jay whispered to himself as he accepted the paper slip and sat down in front of Diana.

"Now, as we were. Vectors are…"

* * *

"Great, you guys too?" Jay said as he sat down at the lunch table and saw the paper slips, "I really thought at least one of us would get out of it."

"Nope, Rogers also made me do 50 sit-ups," Nate said as he rubbed his back, "I can still feel myself doing them."

"Maybe if we had had some help from two certain Rangers, we could have gotten here sooner," Victor suggested.

"Anyway, I guess training has to wait," Valerie noted, "we'll just have to train twice as hard next session!"

"Assuming we don't get detention tomorrow," Mera interjected, "Harpies are attacking more frequently now, and soon we may not be able to keep up."

"If we do get a break, my Halloween party is tomorrow night," Valerie said, "obviously you're all invited."

"Be a little confused if we weren't," Jay joked, "besides, you told us before."

"Oh yeah," Valerie said, embarrassed, "just trying to remind you, that's all…"

* * *

"How can these...children keep defeating my Dark Order!?" Echidna screamed as she slammed her fists into the table, "one by one they have been taken out, and only you two remain: Gryphon and Chimera."

"Mother, I have always been the most powerful member," Chimera said as his black and gold armor gleamed in the light of the magic table, "let me take them down for good! I will target their leader. Without his leadership, the team will fall to pieces."

"No, mother, let us go together!" Gryphon said, "I will distract the other Rangers as Chimera completes his goal!"

"I will send both of you!" Echidna ordered, "and with these last two Golden Apples, you will be able to crush the Rangers if they somehow defeat you."

"As you command," the two Dark Knights agreed as they kneeled before their leader.

* * *

"Who knew detention would be so boring?" Jay asked aloud as he tilted his head back, "we just sit here for an hour and a half!"

"Be quiet!" Mr Ford said as he looked up from his phone for a moment.

"It's not exactly supposed to be exciting," Valerie whispered.

"Otherwise it wouldn't be a punishment," Nate half-whispered, his feet on the desk as he leans back. He was obviously used to being in this room.

"Ok, I guess you can go," Mr Ford said as he looked at the clock, "and think about the consequences of being late!"

"Mm hm, see ya, bye!" Nate said as he quickly got out of the room, with the other teens close behind him.

* * *

"I guess we prepare for the party tomorrow night, then," Jay said as the group walked away from the school and into a nearby park.

"If we do not keep getting distracted," Mera said.

"Doesn't seem likely," Victor said, "look!"

"Greetings, Ranger!" Gryphon shouted as he swooped in from the sky before landing in front of the team, "you have defeated my brothers-in-arms, for that you will pay dearly!"

Jay stepped up front as the Rangers put on their morphers, "ready?"

"Ready!" the other Rangers shouted in agreement.

"Pink Olympian Power!"

"Yellow Olympian Power!"

"Black Olympian Power!"

"Blue Olympian Power!"

"Red Olympian Power!"

The Rangers stepped up closer to Gryphon and began their roll call.

"Aphrodite, goddess of love! Pink Olympian Ranger!"

"Athena, goddess of wisdom! Yellow Olympian Ranger!"

"Hephaestus, god of the forge! Black Olympian Ranger!"

"Poseidon, god of the sea! Blue Olympian Ranger!"

"Zeus, god of lightning! Red Olympian Ranger!"

"Using the powers of the past to protect the future! Power Rangers Olympian Force!"

Following that, each Ranger called for their personal weapons:

"Love Bow!"

"Battle Spear!"

"Blacksmith Hammer!"

"Ocean Trident!"

"Lightning Sword!"

As Jay, Victor, Mera and Valerie charged at Gryphon, Jay was about to run up to battle with them when a long black whip with golden spikes on it wrapped around his waist and sent him flying in the other direction.

"What's the big idea?" Jay shouted as he landed on his butt in front of Chimera, "oh, you must be Chimera."

"That's right, Red Ranger," Chimera said, "and you are my prey now!"

"Yeah, yeah, get in line," Jay said as he sliced with his sword at Chimera's chest with a vertical slash. Chimera moved his hand in front of it and caught the blade.

"What?" Jay exclaimed in surprise, "I know the Dark Order's armor is tough, but none of them were fast or strong enough to catch my sword! I might be in over my head here..."

"Where'd Jay go?" Valerie asked as she flipped over Gryphon before firing an arrow at his back, with little effect.

"Yeah, where is our fearless leader?" Nate asked as he did a sweeping strike with his trident before doing a spinning back kick into Gryphon's side. Once again it had little effect.

"Look!" Victor said as he pointed at the ensuing, very one-sided battle between Chimera and Jay, "he's facing that Knight all alone!"

"I will aid him!" Mera said as she flipped over Gryphon to go aid the Red Ranger.

"I think not," Gryphon said as he grabbed one of Mera's legs and slammed her into the ground helmet first.

"Ooooo, that had to hurt," Valerie commented as she moved over to help Mera get up, "are you ok?"

"I have been better," Mera said as she shook her head to try and get the stars in her vision to go away.

"Here, let me help you get...ah!" Valerie said as Victor was launched into her, knocking them both to the ground, stunned.

"Let's try my Ocean Trident on that armor of yours, Gryphon," Nate said as he charged the trident so it's points glowed a solid blue before stabbing it into Gryphon's back. If it had any effect, it didn't show. The armor had no cracks in it like the others had received when they had been hit by a mighty blow like that.

"I had my armor upgraded since our last encounter, Ranger!" Gryphon shouted as he turned and slashed with his sword. Nate went flying towards the others, sparks flying on his armor.

"My team…" Jay said as he blocked a swipe of Chimera's whip that had become a curved sword. Spikes were still everywhere on the sword, making it resemble more of a club.

"Worry about yourself, Red Ranger!" Chimera shouted as he kicked Jay away before swinging his sword around his head multiple times, turning it back into a whip.

"Spike Barrage!" he shouted as he cracked his whip on the ground multiple times. Each time, spikes flew off of the whip and floated in midair. After a third whip crack, Chimera turned his whip back into a sword and swung it like a bat, sending all of the spikes flying at the prone Rangers

"Guys, look out!" Jay shouted as he jumped in between the spikes and the Rangers on the ground. He took the entirety of the attack, with every spike striking him instead of the other Rangers.

He groaned as the spikes turned purple and slowly sunk into his suit and then into his skin. Yet he did not demorph.

"Mission complete," Gryphon said as he disappeared in his signature black smoke.

"Jay!" Valerie shouted as the four Rangers got up as one and rushed over to their leader's side. He seemed unresponsive to any outside stimuli, just lying on the ground, groaning in pain.

"What did you do to him?" she demanded as she and the other Rangers lined up, blocking their injured leader from Chimera.

"You'll catch up. Eventually," Chimera said as he prepared another Spike Barrage, "Spike Barrage!"

The four Rangers looked on in terror as the same spikes that had defeated their leader flew towards them. But swiftly, they dodged or blocked all of the spikes with their weapons.

"We've got to fight back!" Nate shouted as he went into a ready stance with his weapon, "let's go! Charge!"

As the Rangers were slowly beaten back by Chimera, Jay was still on the ground, now screaming in pain as the spikes continued their descent into his body. His vision was blurry and his body was on fire. He didn't even notice as the Gold and Silver Rangers as they rushed to his side.

"Hold on, Red Ranger," the Gold Ranger said as he raised his staff, "I'll help relieve your pain."

The top of the staff glowed a stunning gold as Jay was surrounded in gold light. His screams turned into groans, whimpers, and, finally, silence.

"What did you do?" the Silver Ranger asked as she looked down at the Red Ranger.

"All I did was ease his pain, he wasn't supposed to pass out. This is bad!" the Gold Ranger shouted as he kneeled down and shook Jay.

"Jay, wake up!" he said.

"How do you know my name?" Jay slurred, clearly out of it.

"We're friends," the Gold Ranger said, the Silver Ranger reluctantly nodding.

The other Rangers were blasted back by a swipe of Chimera's sword, sparks flying from where they had been struck.

"We need to flee and regroup," Mera said as she clutched her side in pain.

"Yeah, this guy packs a punch," Victor agreed.

"When did YOU two show up?" Nate asked accusingly, "and why didn't you help us?"

"We were too busy helping him," the Gold Ranger explained.

"Now get us out of here and to your base!" the Silver Ranger demanded.

"Hermes, we need a door," Valerie said into her morpher, "and we're bringing along an injured Ranger and some guests."

A door to an apartment building began to glow blue. Victor and Nate hoisted up Jay onto their shoulders as the Rangers ran towards the door. The Gold and Silver Rangers backed up slowly, firing energy arrows at Chimera to try and slow him down. They quickly turned and ran to the open door, closing it behind them just as Chimera tried to run through. He slammed into the door before backing up and opening it. Inside was a normal apartment building.

"Rangers!" he shouted to the sky.

* * *

"Hermes!" Valerie shouted as Nate and Victor carried Jay over to one of the beds in the medical center.

"You do know how rare nectar is, right?" Hermes said as he prepared an IV drip for Jay, "you keep coming in with injuries, one day there won't be any left."

"Just help him!" she shouted at him.

"I'm working as fast as I can!" Hermes shouted back, "there we go!"

Jay demorphed finally, the poison had reached his bloodstream.

"Fascinating," Victor and Mera said together as they studied Jay's body.

"He remained morphed even after passing out," Mera said.

"I don't even know how that works," Victor said excitedly, "but I need to find out!"

"It's almost like someone didn't want the Gold and Silver Ranger to know his identity," Nate remarked.

"Because you mentioned them, perhaps we should go join them out in the main room?" Mera said as she left the room, "I am quite sure Jay is in the best hands."

Nate and Victor followed almost immediately, while Valerie waited behind for a moment, looking at Jay's unconscious body.

"I will watch over him," Hermes reassured her, "go. Join the others."

"Alright…" Valerie said reluctantly.

* * *

"Talk," Nate demanded, "now."

"Why did you help us this time, and come to our base?" Mera asked.

"Because you finally proved yourselves," the Gold Ranger said, "you proved how dedicated you are to each other and the mission. When Jay put himself in harm's way for you, he proved he was worthy, then when you went to his aid, you proved that you were worthy."

"Because of that, we are now willing to join you," the Silver Ranger said.

"You just said 'Jay'" Valerie noted, "how do you know our names?"

"Because of your winged friend," the Silver Ranger answered, "he sent a very special woman to us and she told us everything. The gems, your identities, Hades, all of it."

"Note to self: teach Hermes about privacy," Nate growled as he balled his hands into fists.

"This seems a little unfair," Valerie said, "you know our identities, but we don't know yours."

The Gold and Silver Rangers slowly raised their arms to their helmets and took them off.

"Adrian and his annoying sister?" Nate asked, "YOU'RE the Gold and Silver Rangers?"

"It's Diana, blue boy," Diana growled.  
"It makes sense," Victor responded, "even if they knew our names when we were under the helmets, it would make sense that they would know us outside the suits too."

The four Rangers removed their helmets as well. All of the Rangers put their helmets on surfaces around the Temple and walked over to each other.

"So we're just supposed to believe that you want to help us now?" Nate asked suspiciously.

"Hey, we just revealed our identities! Doesn't that count for a little trust?" Diana snapped back.

"Diana, calm yourself," Adrian said as he grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back away from Nate, "he's just trying to rile you up."

"If the two of you are done, remember Victor's explanation of how our powers work? We're stronger together, so it doesn't matter really why they chose to join us now. We need them if we're going to beat back the rest of the Dark Order," Valerie said.

"Agreed," Mera said, "we require your aid, and it seems you are willing to now give it."

"Yeah," Victor said, "what they said. In less words."

The Rangers were prepared to speak more when the alarm went off.

"I'm picking up Chimera and Gryphon in the shopping center," Victor said after running to the mosaic computer.

"Let's go!" Nate shouted as he grabbed his helmet and put it on before running out the Doors of Janus, all of the other Rangers following his example.

* * *

"Rangers, come out and face me!" Chimera roared as he whipped another hot dog cart to pieces, "for every moment I wait, I'll destroy another business!"

"Hold your horses," Nate said as the six Rangers ran up to confront him, "we're right here."

"Looks like you got some back-up," Gryphon said as he flew down next to Chimera, "why don't you meet ours? Harpies!"

A group of Harpies flew down in between the Dark Order Knights and the Rangers.

"Attack!" Chimera ordered.

The Rangers summoned their weapons to counter this.

"Love Bow!"

"Battle Spear!"

"Blacksmith Hammer!"

"Ocean Trident!"

"Sun Staff!"

"Moon Bow!"

More Harpies flew down into the fray as the Rangers beat back their brethren.

Valerie came in with a flying side kick into one Harpy before smashing her bow on another. Adrian spun his staff around him and in front of him, forming a spinning shield that blocked Harpy claws and kicks. Diana leapt up off of her brother's shoulders and launched a volley of glowing silver arrows from her bow that struck all of the Harpies surrounding the two. Victor spun his hammer around on the ground, tripping up any Harpies on the ground, before slowly raising the level the hammer was at and hitting the Harpies in the air. Mera and Nate came flying into the air with rapid stabs with their spear and trident respectively, poking holes in the wings of Harpies and sending them falling down to the ground and into the range of Adrian's staff and Victor's hammer.

The Rangers regrouped in front of the Dark Order Knights as the Harpies turned to dust.

"That the best you got?" Nate taunted.

"No, but this is!" Chimera responded as his whip turned into it's sword mode before charging into the Rangers. Gryphon quickly followed, both slashing with their swords rapidly, knocking the Rangers to the ground.

"Even with our combined strength, they're still too powerful!" Victor said as the Rangers slowly got up.

"Let's try the Gemini Javelin!" Adrian suggested to his sister.

Diana nodded as she and Adrian combined their weapons. DIana split her bow into her daggers, then combined the daggers where they lined up, forming a large blade. The daggers then snapped onto the front of Adrian's staff. The Gemini Javelin was complete. Adrian raised his hand and the javelin fell into it. He primed it at the two Dark Order Knights.

"Gemini Javelin! Launch!" Adrian and Diana shouted as Adrian threw the javelin at Chimera and Gryphon.

The javelin smashed into Chimera and cracked his chestplate. Chimera roared as he pulled the javelin out of his armor and onto the ground.

"A good attempt, but not good enough," he growled, "now it's payback time!"

* * *

Jay groaned as he opened his eyes. His body was still tingling from the poison, and the nectar had only partially healed him. He walked out of the medical center, wheeling his IV behind him.

"Hey guys, the weirdest thing… where'd they go?" he asked as he walked over to Hermes at the computer, "what's going on?"

He watched as Gryphon and Chimera slashed through the Rangers again. Sparks flew from where the Rangers had been hit as they fell to the ground hard, demorphing as they did.

"They need my help!" Jay said as he moved to pull the IV out of his arm.

"Hold on," Hermes said as he turned around in the chair and put his hand on top of Jay;s, "that nectar might be the only thing keeping you alive right now. That poison is in your blood."

"That's a risk I need to take," Jay answered as he brushed off Hermes' hand before pulling out the IV. He immediately fell to the floor.

"I have to get up!" Jay shouted as he pulled himself into a sitting position before slowly standing up. He shuffled to the door.

"You're being foolish," Hermes said as he shook his head, "if you die, Hades will have his way with your soul."

"I'm not leaving my friends to die," Jay responded, "and they need me."

He shifted to more of a walking pace as he got out the doors. He noticed that he was now behind the fallen Rangers.

"Guys!" he shouted as he slowly walked over to the weakened Rangers and helped pull Valerie up, then the others, "Adrian and Diana, you're the Gold and Silver Rangers?"

"We'll explain later," Valerie said before putting her hand on his shoulder, "you shouldn't be here. That poison could kill you."

"It's worth it if it means I can help my friends and the world," Jay responded, "some things are worth the risk. Now who's with me?"

The others nodded.

"We all are, fearless leader," Nate said as he patted Jay on the back, "don't you have something else to say?"

"Yeah, it's morphing time!" Jay said as he stepped forward, "ready?"

"Ready!" the other six Rangers shouted.

"Gold Olympian Power!"

"Silver Olympian Power!"

"Pink Olympian Power!"

"Yellow Olympian Power!"

"Black Olympian Power!"

"Blue Olympian Power!"

"Red Olympian Power!"

In a flash of light, the teens were transformed back into their Ranger counterparts. They prepared an updated roll call.

"Apollo, god of healing! Gold Olympian Ranger!

"Artemis, goddess of the hunt! Silver Olympian Ranger!"

"Aphrodite, goddess of love! Pink Olympian Ranger!"

"Athena, goddess of wisdom! Yellow Olympian Ranger!"

"Hephaestus, god of the forge! Black Olympian Ranger!"

"Poseidon, god of the sea! Blue Olympian Ranger!"

"Zeus, god of lightning! Red Olympian Ranger!"

"Using the powers of the past to protect the future! Power Rangers Olympian Force!"

"Yeah, yeah, we've heard it before," Gryphon said before flying at the Rangers with his sword.

"Come on, guys, let's take down the rest of the Dark Order!" Jay said before flipping over Gryphon's strike. As soon as he landed, he summoned his Lightning Sword and struck quickly with a fast slash. Gryphon' armor weakened as the other Rangers repeated Jay's actions of flipping over him and attacking.

"Knock it off!" Gryphon roared as he swung his sword in an arc around him, causing the Rangers to handspring backwards to dodge, "Chimera, aid me!"

"Of course, comrade," Chimera said as he moved forward to join the fight.

Jay, Nate, Victor and Adrian moved to counter him, leaving Gryphon for the girls to finish off.

"Ocean Trident Power Stab!" Nate shouted as he stabbed his trident, whose tips were glowing blue, into Chimera's cracked chestplate. He flipped away as Victor came in to attack.

"Blacksmith Hammer Crush!" Victor shouted as he raised his hammer, glowing with black energy, and smashed it into the trident's handle, sending the trident deeper into the chestplate and into the monster inside the armor.

Chimera roared in pain as he fell to one knee in front of the Rangers.

Mera and Diana flipped over Gryphon and stabbed their spear and daggers respectively into Gryphon's weakened back armor. They quickly spun him around for Valerie to snipe his back with a glowing pink arrow from her bow. The back armor cracked from the constant barrage of attacks. Gryphon also fell to one knee in pain.

The Rangers regrouped in front of their fallen foes.

"Time to finish this!" Jay ordered, "let's form the Olympian Crossbow!"

Nate's trident bent 90 degrees as the "teeth" spread out and bent to form a handle. Victor's hammer landed on the ground handle side up as the love bow clicked onto the former trident, which then clicked onto the hammer handle. Mera's spear was bent around the bowstring to make it thicker as the behemoth of a weapon hit the concrete.

"Olympian Crossbow!" the rangers shouted.

The girls were knelt down to support the firing end, while Vincent and Nate pulled back the string to allow Jay to place his sword into it.

Jay infused the Lightning Sword with some of his power as the Crossbow was primed to fire.

The twins changed their weapons back into their bows and drew back the bowstrings.

"We'll back you up with a Gemini Arrow," Adrian said as he looked over at the core five Rangers, "now let's beat the Dark Order once and for all!"

"Olympic Lightning Storm!" Jay shouted.

"Gemini Arrow!" the twins shouted.

"Fire!" all of the Rangers shouted together as the projectiles flew at the downed knights. They looked up just in time to see the Lightning Sword and Gemini Arrow flying towards them.

"Uh oh," Gryphon gulped as the sword struck the ground and stuck in the pavement. A huge cloud appeared from the hilt that quickly rose into the air. The cloud crackled with red lightning that came down and struck both Dark Order Members before the Gemini Arrow plowed right through them, destroying them in a big fiery explosion.

"Good riddance to bad rubbish," Mera commented as the Rangers separated their weapons and sent them to a pocket dimension.

"Glad to work with yo..agh!" Jay said, putting his hand out for Adrian to shake before clutching his side. He glowed purple as glowing spikes flew out of him and into the sky.

"I guess the poison's gone," Victor noted as Jay stood up and stuck his hand out to Adrian again.

"Glad to work with you," he said, "welcome to the team!"

"Glad to be here," Adrian said as he accepted the hand.

The Rangers looked over to the remains of the Dark Order members as they suddenly glowed golden and reformed into Chimera and Gryphon before slowly growing to the size of the skyscrapers around them.

"No points for you, Rangers!" Chimera roared as he grew.

"Red Ranger, face me!" Gryphon shouted as he grew as well.

"Hermes, summon the Zords!" Jay shouted into his communicator.

"Sending all seven Zords now," Hermes said as he typed away at the mosaic computer.

"I guess he had your Zords in the same place he had ours," Jay commented, "now let's end this!"

The Eagle, Owl, and Raven Zords swooped in, with the Eagle Zord carrying the Fish Zord in its claws. The Deer, Bull and Horse Zords came in to the city and landed on the roadway in front of the two Dark Knights.

The Rangers leapt into their cockpits. The Gold and Silver Zord cockpits had a golden sun and silver crescent moon respectively on the back wall surrounded by a circle, matching the other Ranger's cockpit designs. The Rangers all inserted their Olympian Gems into the indentations and the controls flashed to life.

"We shouldn't waste any time," Jay ordered, "let's form the Olympian MegaZord: Warrior Mode now!"

The core Rangers turned their dials from ZORD MODE to WARRIOR MODE.

The Bull Zord was the first to change, as the head came off, the body split apart and the legs flipped around 180ᣞ and the front and back legs combined.

The Horse Zord was next, as it's head went into a chest cavity while the front and back legs combined together and connected to the Bull Zord legs, forming a complete waist, legs and feet.

The Eagle Zord was next. As its wings clipped off together in one long arc-shaped piece and it's legs slid into its body before it connected to the Horse Zord, it was now forming the entire body of the combination. The Eagle Zord head screeched and opened up it's mouth to fit the other side of the Bull Zord's head into it, revealing a robotic face.

Next came the Owl Zord. As its head detached from the body and the body detached from the wings, the wings clipped onto the sides of the Eagle Zord and expanded, forming the arms.

Lastly was the Fish Zord. As the entire dorsal fin and tail came off, it popped open completely in half before coming onto the Eagle Zord's body as a chestplate and combining together again. The tail folded into a plume that went onto the Eagle Zord's head to complete the helmet look. The horns from the Bull Zord head attached together and became a straight point before combining with the dorsal fin to create a large spear that went into the left hand. The Owl Zord body lengthened itself a bit before the head slid into a hole in the center, finishing the shield, which went on the right arm.

"Olympian Megazord: Warrior Mode ready!" all five Rangers shouted as they all joined together in a single cockpit. Jay was in the front with Nate diagonally to his right, Victor diagonally on his left, Valerie diagonally behind Nate and Mera diagonally behind Victor.

"We'll follow your example," Adrian said as he and Diana flipped a switch that had the options of ZORD in the center, GOLD in the front and SILVER in the back. They flipped the switch to SILVER MODE.

The Deer Zord leapt into the air as it's body began to transform. The front half of the body slid into the back half as the front legs popped off. The Raven Zord flapped its wings once more before they bend in the center. They folded down, covering the body with the entire body splitting in two, with the wings forming a covering over the legs. The Deer Zord came down and connected to the now split Raven Zord body forming the legs The front legs of the Deer Zord reattached by connecting to the back legs, now arms, forming thicker arms. The Deer Zord's mouth opened, revealing a face hidden inside the head. It now looked like a robot in an animal pelt of some kind.

"Gemini Megazord: Silver Mode, ready!" the twins shouted as they joined together in a single cockpit, with Adrian on the left and Diana on the right.

"So you have two Megazords now, there's still two of us!" Gryphon shouted as he charged at the Olympian Megazord bare-handed.

The Rangers looked confused as the Megazord raised it's spear.

"They know we can just stab them, right?" Nate asked as the Megazord did just that, stabbing right through Gryphon and destroying him in a big explosion. As they moved to join the Gemini Megazord, they missed Gryphon, now at normal size again, flying out of the explosion and landing on a rooftop.

"I'll get my revenge on you, Red Ranger," he said as he disappeared in his signature black smoke, "for what you did to me…"

Back in the battle, Chimera raked his sword across the Gemini Megazord, who tried to block with it's twin blades formed from the wings of the raven zord, but was too slow. The Megazord started falling to the ground, but the Olympian Megazord caught it before it reached the ground and helped right it.

"You guys ready to get him?" Jay asked over his morpher to the other Megazord, "begin final attacks!"

Jay pressed his gems on the console, causing the entire cockpit to glow with red energy. "Activate Lightning Javelin!" he commanded.

The other rangers pressed their gems and the Megazords eyes started to glow as a storm grew. The Megazord raised it's spear as red lightning struck it, causing the entire weapon to course with red electricity.

"Lightning Javelin!" all five rangers yelled, "Go!"

The Javelin went flying straight for Chimera

The Gemini Megazord raised its blades.

"Hunter's Fury!" Adrian and Diana shouted as the entire cockpit glowed silver from Diana's Olympian Gems.

The Gemini Megazord did a mighty x-slash made of silver energy and launched it at Chimera.

"This stings!" Chimera shouted as he exploded.

"We did it!" Valerie shouted as she removed her helmet and celebrated in the cockpit, "we beat the Dark Order."

"Indeed," Mera said, "this is a cause for celebration!"

Jay smiled as the team removed their helmets. The Rangers had won a major victory today.

* * *

"No, no, no!" Echidna screamed as the last of her children was destroyed, "my babies! The Rangers slaughtered them all!"

"Not so easy, is it?" Hades smirked as he entered his unused throne room, "you told me the Rangers would be defeated, now they are even stronger!"

"If you think you can do better…" Echidna said as she began to slither away, "I'm going to go find my children's souls in this wretched Underworld and get out of here!"

"Yes, crawl back to whatever rock you crawled out of," Hades said as Echidna slithered out of the room. As soon as he was gone, he looked to one of the shadows in the room.

"Come out, Gryphon, I know you're there."

Gryphon growled as he clutched his shoulder and kneeled before him, "Master Hades, you know my true allegiance was always to you, I just helped my mother out of family loyalty."

"I know," Hades said, "and I still have a use for you."

He opened his palm. As blue fire flew from it, he showed an image of his Spartoi army in the flames.

"My army needs a leader," he said, "and I thought you might be interested…"

"Of course, master," Chimera agreed, "but where are we deploying this army?"

"When the time is right, you will know," Hades said as he closed his palm and the flames went out, "until then, I will need you to distract the Rangers so my army can grow."

"Just say the word, and I will go up there and cause havoc in your name!"

"I don't want havoc in my name!" Hades snapped as the fire on his head flared red, "I want those Rangers destroyed!"

"It shall be done," Gryphon said.

* * *

"So you two are the Gold and Silver Rangers," Jay said as the team walked back into the temple.

"Yeah," Adrian said, "we talked to this strange woman, and she told us everything and gave us our Olympian Gems."

"Strange, I met a weird woman too," Valerie said, "it seems like a huge coincidence."

The Rangers began to talk among themselves, all except for Mera.

'I wonder…' she thought.

"Anyway, let's celebrate!" Nate shouted.

"Don't forget Hades is still out there," Victor reminded.

"Victor's right, we can't let our guard down until Hades is defeated," Jay said, "...except for the party tomorrow!"

* * *

The next day was Halloween, and passed by pretty normally, considering the holiday. Jay grinned as he sat down at the table. The rest of the team was already there, including the new additions of Diana and Adrian.

"Who's ready for the party this evening?" he asked.

"I am!" Nate announced.

"Indeed," Mera said.

"Me too," Victor said quietly.

"Yup," Valerie responded.

"You bet!" Adrian said.

"I guess," Diana answered.

"Hey, five out of six ain't bad!" Jay joked, "I guess I'll see you tonight then."

* * *

Jay walked up to the front gate of Valerie's house and gaped. He was dressed up as the Red Mighty Morphin' Power Ranger.

"Wow," he said, "I know I came here before, but that was when it was completely dark! This place is huge!"

He flashed his invitation to the front gate camera and walked through to the front door.

"Welcome, Master Jason," James, the butler, said as he opened the door, "Miss Valerie told me to find her on the dance floor."

"Thanks, James," Jay said as he stepped through, "and the dance floor is…?"

"That way, sir," James pointed towards the back of the house, "we moved it since last time, so I understand your confusion."

Jay walked towards the back of the house towards one of the larger rooms. Inside was Jack O'Lanterns, cut-out bats hanging from the ceiling and a dark atmosphere.

Jay walked over to Valerie, who was dressed up as a female vampire.

"You look good!" he shouted over the music.

"You too," she said as she walked up to him, "could've shown up as the Red Olympian Ranger, if you know what I mean."

"Yeah, too easy," Jay said, brushing her comment off, "I had to make this myself, so it's more fun to wear in the end."

"The others are over here," Valerie said as she guided Jay through all of the costumed people. She led him to one table with all of the Rangers sitting at it except Nate. Mera was dressed up as Merrida from Brave, Victor was dressed as a robot with real mechanical parts attached to his body, Adrian was dressed in a suit, and Diana was dressed as a gender-flipped Tarzan.

"I know what most of you are, but who are you supposed to be?" he asked Adrian.

"I'm Bethoven," Adrian answered, "you know, the great musician?"

"Yeah, that guy Schroeder from Peanuts was obsessed with!" Jay realized.

"Yeah, also that," Adrian said as he scratched the back of his head, "that's one way to remember him…"

"Where's Nate?" Jay asked.

"Oh no," Valerie said as she looked across the room, "he didn't…"

"He did," Mera answered.

Coming towards them was Nate in his Blue Olympian Force Armor, helmet in his hands.

"Seriously, are you insane?" Jay hissed at him, "you realize that people might recognize that the armor is real, and your voice is the same, and…"

"Relax, dad," Nate said, "no one's going to notice."

There was silence for a moment before Valerie piped up.

"Shall we dance?" she asked Jay.

"Sure," he said as his arm was taken by Valerie, "see you guys later!"

The other teens quickly got up and followed.

As the moon rose inside, the party raged on, and the Rangers could enjoy some peace, just for a little while.

**Happy Halloween! And may the power protect you!**


	13. The Hunter or the Hunted?

**Hey Ranger fans!**

**I'm glad to give you Episode 13, and I've finally actually decided how exactly the rest of the series will go. Basically, I've been making it up as I go so far, but now there's actual, written plans for the rest of the series. This starts the hunt for the remaining Olympian Gems. This also marks me stopping the "I don't own Power Rangers" thing because I think I've beaten it to death.**

**Thanks, as always, go to JTWAS1994 for reviewing and following the story so far **

**As always, Enjoy! **

**Power Rangers Olympian Force Chapter 13: The Hunter or the Hunted?**

"Man, I hate walking in the woods in the winter!" Nate complained as the Rangers hiked up the hill. They all had winter coats in their Ranger color.

"Will you ever stop complaining?" Diana asked as she pushed some branches out of her way.

"Not likely," Mera said as the Rangers stopped to look at the land below them.

"OK Victor," Jay said, ignoring the chatter behind him, "Where's the Olympian Gems?"

Victor looked down at a pocket watch that had been transformed into a radar that searched for Olympian Gems. It had been about a week since the Halloween party, and the Rangers decided to be proactive by searching for the lost Olympian Gems. Victor and Mera had worked around the clock to design a portable radar system, and the team was now enjoying the fruits of their labors.

"Should be straight ahead," Victor said as he pointed forward towards a hill in the distance, "all the way down, then up that hill."

Nate sighed, "this is going to be a long walk, isn't it?"

"Come on, Nate," Adrian said, "the exercise is good for you!"

"I don't have a problem with the exercise," Nate retorted, "I just wish we knew exactly where we were going."

"Let's move, team!" Jay said as the Rangers moved forward. Valerie ran up to the front of the group to meet up with Jay.

"How's it going, expedition leader?" she teased as she put her hand in his.

"Better now," he said as the group continued down the trail.

"Ugh," Nate said, "ever since those two got together, everything's become so...lovey dovey when it comes to them being with each other."

"For once, you and I agree," Diana said as she crossed her arms, "how can he be leader when he's so...focused on her?"

"Let's be supportive," Adrian said as he came up behind the two, "it's hard to have a relationship in a war against an angry god of death. Just be glad they found each other."

The two sighed. However, as Nate looked down at the ground, Diana looked out to her right. She stopped suddenly and pointed.

"Look!" she said, "Deer!"

The Rangers stopped and looked. Indeed there was a family of deer, with a doe, a stag and three baby deer. The deer looked up, frightened, and ran away. As the Rangers turned to continue, they heard a gunshot to their right once again.

Jay immediately sprung into action.

"Come on!" he said as the Rangers ran towards the source of the sound.

They reached a clearing and the buck was lying on its side, barely moving. The rest of the family was nowhere to be seen. Diana rushed forward and kneeled down before inspected the buck. She frowned at what she saw.

"It's been shot," she said, "someone just shot this defenseless animal!"

"Who would do such a thing?" Valerie asked as she bent down to inspect the buck as well.

"That was a good one!" a man shouted as he and two friends came into the clearing. He noticed the teens and lowered his rifle.

"What are you kids doing in this neck of the woods?" he asked.

"We're searching for O…ow!" Victor said before Nate stomped on his foot.

"We're searching for outstanding animals, and look! We found one!" he gestured to the buck, "now we can go and search for more!" He turned and went back to the path.

The man pointed his rifle at the buck's head, "a clear shot…" he mumbled to himself.

Diana moved into the line of fire, her arms outstretched to protect the buck, "why are you doing this? Can't you see it wasn't hurting anyone?"

"It's just for sport, honey," the man said as one of his buddies shoved her out of the way. He lined up his rifle again.

Diana was about to move to block the line of fire again before Jay and Adrian grabbed her arms.

"As much as I hate to see it, it is hunting season," Adrian explained.

"But it has a family!" Diana shouted as she pulled against the two boys.

"It's their right to hunt if they so choose to," Mera explained.

"There's nothing we can do," Jay said as the two boys pulled her the way they came.

"But...but," Diana said as she finally gave up and slumped down in defeat, "fine, let's go."

"Go back to your little nature walk!" the man said as he cleaned off his rifle, "better yet, maybe we'll follow you! Hunt whatever you guys find!"

"Don't push it," Jay warned as the teens left the clearing.

Diana closed her eyes as she heard another gunshot, knowing that it had ended an innocent animal's life.

"Man, what a jerk," Valerie said as the group finally reached the hill, "he knew how upset Diana was and still decided to upset her more."

"Some people are just like that," Jay explained, leading the team up the hill.

The Rangers looked around as they reached the top of the hill.

"There's nothing here," Adrian noted as he bent down to examine the ground, "just grass and dirt."

"OK, Victor, very funny. Now where is that pair of Olympian Gems?" Nate said as he turned to face Victor.

"I don't understand," Victor said as he looked down at the radar, "it says that a pair of Olympian Gems should be right here!"

"Perhaps we made an error in our calculations?" Mera suggested.

"Or maybe you 'geniuses' screwed...woah!" Nate said before the ground crumbled under him and he fell through it.

"Oh my god, Nate!" Valerie shouted. She ran towards the hole and looked down.

"Be careful!" Jay warned.

"I will. I can't see anythinggggg!" she shouted as she fell headfirst into the hole.

"So much for being careful…" Jay said as he looked to Mera, "don't suppose you have any rope, do you?"

"I do," Victor said as he opened his bag and pulled out a circular device with a point on one part of it and rope around the ring. He put the point into the ground far away from the hole. He unwound the rope from the ring and clipped it to Jay's belt.

"I'll stay up here to make sure the device functions properly, then follow you down" he explained.

"That's reassuring…" Jay said as he was slowly lowered into the hole by the device. Jay looked around as he slowly decended. There wasn't much to see. It was too dark to actually see anything except for the light coming from the hole. When he reached the bottom, he unclipped the clip from his belt and watched as it slowly went back up. He turned on a flashlight and found Nate on the ground under Valerie.

"She fell on top of me!" Nate shouted as he tried to roll her off, "and she must've passed out because she isn't moving at all."

"She's scared of heights, remember?" Jay said as he helped roll Valerie off of Nate so he could stand up. Jay gently shook Valerie as the rest of the team, one by one, came down through the hole and into the cave, turning on their flashlights as soon as they landed. Valerie started to come to as Victor made his way down.

"The machine should hold," he said as his feet hit the stone floor.

"Should or will?" Nate asked, "there's a big difference between the two, buddy."

Valerie's eyes fluttered open and Jay's face filled her vision.

"What happened?" she asked as Jay helped her stand up.

"You fainted, probably from looking down," Nate explained, "you are scared of heights."

"That was my theory," Jay said as he turned to face the group, "anyway, let's look around. If the Gems aren't on the hill, maybe they're under it."

The team split up, with each Ranger looking for any clue to the Olympian Gems' location. Diana wasn't looking too hard.

"I'm still thinking about that poor deer," she said to her brother as they searched.

"I'm sorry about what happened with it," Adrian said, "but there's nothing we can do about it. He has a right to do it if he chooses to."

"Maybe he shouldn't have that right," Diana suggested, "there's no people hunting season."

"Yeah, it's called the Purge!" Nate shouted to the two from the other side of the cavern, "you know we can hear you, right?"

"Shut up, you!" Diana shouted as she turned around and marched over to Nate. She was about to start yelling at him when Mera shouted first.

"I believe I have found something of note!" she shouted. The rest of the team rushed over, Diana still glaring at Nate.

"Look at that!" Jay marveled.

In front of the team was four marble pillars in a square that were identical to the ones in the Temple. There was an altar in the center of the four pillars. The Rangers slowly approached it.

"It could be booby-trapped…" Jay said cautiously.

"Heh, you said trap," Nate snickered.

All of the teens shot him a look before continuing forward. They reached right in front of the altar with no difficulty. There were two golden bracelets, obviously Olympian Morphers on the altar with purple gems on them.

"Go on, fearless leader," Nate said, "grab the Gems so we can go."

Jay slowly put his arms out and grabbed the Morphers quickly. Nothing happened. The Rangers look around for any potential traps.

"That was anticlimactic," Nate noted, "I was all ready to go full Indiana Jones and run away from a rolling boulder or something.

"Well, I would assume the Purple Olympian Gems represent Dionysus," Mera explained, "he was...well...a drunk."

"Yeah, his followers were too," Adrian added, "I bet this was once a temple to Dionysus!"

"And what, they were so drunk that they forgot these here?" Nate said, utterly unconvinced.

"No, I think he was laid back enough that he wasn't too worried about the mortal wielding his powers," Jay explained, "so he just left them so someone could find them. Anyway, we found what we came for, let's go."

The teens started their walk back the way they came.

* * *

Nate groaned as the machine pulled him to the surface, "you have no idea what that does to my back," he said to Victor as he stretched backwards to try and crack it.

"Well done team!" Jay congratulated, "we accomplished our goal! Let's hike back to my car and get back to the temple with these unbonded Olympian Gems and Morphers."

* * *

Hades grimaced at the sight of the Morphers in his blue fire projection of Jay.

"At first I thought five was too many, then seven, and now possibly eight? This won't do!" he said as he drummed his fingers on the arm of his throne.

"I thought that the Purple Gems wouldn't have enough power to sustain a Ranger form," Persephone said, "so aren't you worried about nothing?"

"The Rangers are proving more crafty, my dear," Hades said, "plus, if anyone could figure out how to boost their power, it would be Hermes. He always was the craftiest of the Gods. Not the smartest or strongest, mind you, which is probably why Zeus left him as the guardian of the five main Gems in the first place, but he was definitely one of the most clever, and no pushover. But enough talk about Hermes. How do I stop these Rangers from getting the Gems away from my grasp...Hold on."

He waved his hand and the vision rewound to the three hunters the team had met.

"That's it!" he shouted as he dipped his hand into the brazier by his throne and created a blue fireball, "Actaeon, I have need of your skills."

He threw the fireball and it opened into a portal. Out of the portal stepped a humanoid stag. Strapped to both of his arms were special crossbows and strapped to his back was a quiver full of bolts.

"I hear and obey, Lord Hades!" Actaeon said as he kneeled as best as a stag could in front of Hades' throne.

"You are one of the best hunters who ever lived, and you hold a grudge against Artemis, you will be perfect to attack the Rangers!" Hades announced, "take some Spartoi, bring me the Olympian Gems and let no one stop you!"

Hades reached into the brazier again and created another fireball. He launched the fireball behind Actaeon and a portal opened up that Actaeon stepped through.

"Gryphon!" Hades ordered as the bronze-armored warrior stepped out of the shadows, "follow him and make sure he does not fail!"

"As you command, my king," Chimera said as he flapped his wings and flew through the portal.

"Excellent, the Rangers will fall prey to Actaeon's skills," Hades said as he got up from his throne, "and now I must prepare my army for the battle to come. Come, Persephone, we have work to do."

He offered his hand and Persephone reluctantly took it.

Hades, taking no notice to this, led her out of the throne room.

* * *

The Rangers were in the middle of their hike back when they heard a gunshot again. Diana flinched at the sound, with the other teens just startled by the loud noise. They were prepared to continue on their way when they heard repeated gunshots and screams for help.

"Come on!" Jay said as he led the group towards the sounds.

The team found Actaeon, backed up by Spartoi, in a faceoff with the hunters from earlier, the hunters pointing their rifles and Actaeon pointing the crossbows on his wrists. The hunters struggled to aim correctly as they shook in fear.

"Ah, more prey!" Actaeon said after noticing the teens, "I'll finish with this hunt and start yours in a moment.

"We can't morph in front of those hunters," Jay whispered to the group, "so we just have to fight as ourselves."

The team shifted into fighting stances and charged at the monster. Suddenly a net trap on a tree was triggered and the teens were all caught in the net in one large pile.

"You really thought I wouldn't be prepared?" Actaeon gloated, "just stay put, I'll be back for you."

He pointed at the man who had shot the stag earlier, "you! Do you consider yourself a great hunter?"

"You bet I do!" the man shouted defiantly even as his gun continued to shake.

"Maybe you shouldn't!" the monster shouted as a bolt disappeared from his quiver and went into his right crossbow. Actaeon twisted his arm and the string pulled back on it's own. He flexed his wrist down and the bolt fired from the crossbow and into the man's chest. The man fell back, clutching his chest, into the ground. His buddies dropped their guns and ran away, shouting for help as they did.

"We have to get loose!" Adrian exclaimed as he struggled in the net.

"Stop...moving...us!" Nate said angrily as the net began to sway.

"No, keep going!" Jay ordered, "I think it's working!"

The entire team began to shake the net. Eventually the rope holding it up gave out and the teens fell to the ground. Jay reached up and untied the top of the net, freeing all of them.

Noticing that the hunter was now unconscious, the Rangers put on their morphers.

Actaeon turned around in surprise, "how did you escape?"

"Three guesses, and the first two don't count," Jay said before getting into the morphing stance.

"Ready?" he asked the team.

"Ready!" the other teens answered.

"Gold Olympian Power!"

"Silver Olympian Power!"

"Pink Olympian Power!"

"Yellow Olympian Power!"

"Black Olympian Power!"

"Blue Olympian Power!"

"Red Olympian Power!"

In a flash, the Rangers were morphed into their suits. They all looked to Jay for orders.

"OK, guys. We need to stay close. He can't fire his crossbows if he can't move his arms, so we need a way to restrain him. Let's summon our weapons and get in there!"

The Rangers nodded before summoning their weapons.

"Sun Bow!"

"Hunting Daggers!"

"Love Bow!"

"Battle Spear!"

"Blacksmith Hammer!"

"Ocean Trident!"

"Lightning Sword!"

The Rangers, minus Valerie and Adrian, flipped in the air to throw off Actaeon's aim as he started firing a few bolts at them from one of his crossbows, mostly aimed at Diana.

Jay deflected the bolts with his sword before coming down in a mighty slash. Actaeon flipped backwards to dodge and fired rapidly from his crossbows. Nate and Victor ran to where he would land and prepared to sneak attack, but Actaeon angled his leap so he struck both of them in the helmet with his hooves, causing sparks to fly. Diana slid past his, trying to slash him with her one dagger, but Actaeon turned his body just out of the way. Diana turned around for another pass, but the same exact thing happened a second time. Actaeon seemed to show more interest in Diana than any of the other Rangers.

Mera observed the battle and quickly figured out Actaeon's strategy.

"He is maintaining his distance from us so he has perfect range!" she shouted, trying to explain it to the group.

"Maybe the best way to beat him would be with our own ranged weapons! Valerie, Adrian, you're up!" Jay ordered.

Valerie rolled behind a tree and peered around. A bolt suddenly struck the tree, right above Valerie's head.

"Yikes!" she said as she fired an arrow from her bow and then hid behind the tree again, using it as cover, "this guy is more accurate than I thought!"

Adrian rolled behind a different tree and fired arrow after arrow at Actaeon. He dodge them all before turning towards Diana again. He fired off multiple bolts at her.

"Diana, look out!" Adrian shouted as he flipped over and then blocked the bolts. Sparks flew from the areas the bolts hit as Adrian fell to the ground and demorphed.

"Adrian!" Diana shouted as she knelt down to check on her brother. She felt his chest and could recognize he was still breathing.

As Diana examined her brother, the other Rangers maintained their battle with Actaeon, keeping Diana a good distance away from the fight.

"This isn't going great," Jay admitted as he once again missed a slash before dodging more bolts.

"He just dodges everything we try to hit him with!" Nate shouted as he tried to stab Actaeon with his trident, but found he once again missed.

"Let's try boxing him in!" Jay ordered as he, Mera, Nate and Victor formed a ring around him, "flank him and take him out!"

Mera went in for a stab with her spear, but Actaeon leaped over it and she struck Victor instead.

Jay slashed at where he was going to land, but Actaeon did another flip and avoided the strike.

"This guy is making us look like amateurs!" Nate growled as the Rangers who were still active (everyone but Adrian) regrouped in front of the monster.

"Maybe we need to rethink our strategy?" Victor suggested.

"We've altered our strategy multiple times!" Mera said, "and yet he still makes us look like fools!"

"I have one idea," Jay said, "let's bring 'em together!"

Nate's trident bent 90 degrees as the "teeth" spread out and bent to form a handle. Victor's hammer landed on the ground handle side up as the love bow clicked onto the former trident, which then clicked onto the hammer handle. Mera's spear was bent around the bowstring to make it thicker as the behemoth of a weapon hit the ground.

"Olympian Crossbow!" the rangers shouted.

The girls were knelt down to support the firing end, while Vincent and Nate pulled back the string to allow Jay to place his sword into it.

"I'll back you up with a Silver Arrow," Diana said as she pulled back the string on her own bow.

"Olympic Lightning Storm!" Jay shouted as he infused the sword with a bit of his power, "fire!"

The sword fired at the monster as red lightning struck it. It was quickly followed by a large glowing silver energy arrow fired from Diana's bow.

Actaeon didn't look impressed, and yawned. At the last second he leapt into the air, flying over the projectiles, before firing multiple bolts from his crossbows. Jay, Nate, Mera, Victor and Valerie shouted in pain as the bolts struck their suits, causing sparks to fly. Diana managed to roll to the side to dodge

The five fell to the ground and demorphed, quickly becoming unconscious.

"That was an easy hunt!" Actaeon said as he walked over to the fallen teens, "one, two, three, four, five plus the Gold Ranger makes six, but weren't there seven?"

"That's right!" Diana said as she split her bow into her Hunting Daggers again, "and I'm the Ranger you're going to wish you never faced!"

"No, my dear," Actaeon said as he prepared his crossbows again, "you're exactly the Ranger I wanted to face! It's because of your Patron that I ended up this way!"

"My Patron? You mean Artemis?" Diana asked quizzically.

"If I had never met her, I would still be human!" he shouted as he fired bolts at Diana, "I saw her bathing, and she cursed me into this form!"

"So you hold a grudge against her?" Diana asked, "I'm not her! But if you did peep in on her, you deserve your fate! Hunting Daggers! Double Swipe Slash!"

She zoomed across the battlefield towards the monster. She slashed at him once as she passed, but he once again dodged. She quickly u-turned and came in for another swipe, but was annoyed when she missed again.

"I'm too fast for you!" Actaeon said, "and now it's time for you to join your friends!"

"Diana!" Hermes shouted through her morpher, "you have to get out of there. You can't win this by yourself! Take that civilian and flee!"

"This isn't over," Diana growled as she turned to flee. With one step, she was a blur. She ran to Jay and grabbed something out of his pocket before running to the hunter and scooping him up. She quickly made her way deeper into the forest.

"Coward!" Actaeon called after her, "just like Artemis to abandon her friends!"

Diana grit her teeth under her helmet as she leapt over a gap and under some branches.

"I'll make you eat those words," she vowed.

"Now to claim my prize," Actaeon said as flipped over Jay and rifled through his pockets. He came up with nothing except Jay's wallet. He flipped it open to reveal Jay's driver's license from Olympia Hills, NJ. He threw it aside.

"Everything he has is worthless!" he said, "there's no unbonded Olympian Gems here, and there are counter-measures to stop me from stealing bonded ones."

He suddenly realized where the Gems had gone.

"That girl...she stole it right under my nose!" he shouted to the sky, "Silver Ranger!"

* * *

Diana finally stopped about a mile away from where she began. She dropped the hunter and bent over to catch her breath, demorphing as she did so. She had used up a lot of energy to run for so long, and couldn't maintain her armor anymore.

The hunter groaned as he came to.

"What happened?" he asked, "last I remember there was this monster asking me if I was a great hunter."

He finally noticed Diana.

"What are you doing here, honey?" he asked arrogantly as he stood up, "you should be careful, the monster might eat you."

"For your information, I'm the one who saved you from that monster!" Diana retorted, "now he's captured all my friends and I'm stuck with you!"

"You saved me? No no no, I didn't need saving, I had it under control."

"Righttttt," Diana said as she turned around and spoke into her morpher, "Hermes, the civilian's awake and being a jerk. What do you exactly want me to do with him?"

"I just wanted to get him out of harm's way and the bolt didn't leave any lasting damage," Hermes explained, "what you do with him is up to you."

"You're helpful," Diana muttered as she lowered her arm to stop Hermes from hearing her, "alright, Mr. High and Mighty Hunter. You're free to go. I don't need help from a killer like you. I'll save my friends on my own."

"Good. I wasn't going to help anyway," the hunter said as he started to walk away.

"Good riddance," Diana said, "now I can focus on how to save Adrian and the others."

"You shouldn't let him leave," a girl's voice said.

Diana turned around and standing in front of her was a girl, about 15, with brown hair in a bun to keep it out of the way and a silver shirt and mini-skirt. A silver bow and leather quiver with silver arrows were strapped to her back.

"Who are you?" Diana asked accusingly, "another of Hades' minions?"

She shifted into a fighting stance.

The girl noticed this, but didn't react. Instead she kept talking.

"How was this monster created?" she asked.

"Artemis cursed him, and now he holds a grudge," Diana said warily, "why?"

"Aren't you doing the exact same thing with this hunter?" the girl asked, "holding a grudge for one thing he did?"

"Yeah, but he deserves it," Diana said.

"Grudges only last as long as you want them to," the girl said as she turned away, "but are toxic to those who hold them. They can be a weakness."

"So what are you saying I should do?" Diana asked as she began to let her guard down, "just forgive him?"

The girl turned her head to face Diana, "what you do is up to you. We are not here to just tell you exactly what to do, but to advise you to the right path."

The girl ducked behind a tree.

"Wait! What do you mean 'we'?" Diana asked as she came around the tree, but the girl was gone. In the distance, Diana could see a deer running away from the area. She smiled for a moment before going back to her usual serious expression.

"Hey, hunter guy!" Diana called out as she started sprinting the way the hunter went.

* * *

"My buddies just left me, and this girl I met a little while ago keeps showing up!" the hunter said to himself as he went down the path.

He looked back for a moment before continuing.

"Could've sworn I heard something," he remarked, "must be my imagination."

"Hey, wait up!" Diana shouted as she ran up to join him.

"Oh, it's you," the hunter said as he continued along the trail, "come to tell me off some more?"

"I need your help," Diana said, "I need to save my brother and friends and I can't do it alone."

"You hate me. Why would you ask for my help, and why would I accept?" the hunter asked as he finally stopped and sat down on a log. Diana came and sat beside him.

"Look, just because we have differing opinions on something doesn't make us enemies," Diana explained, "and holding a grudge against you is going to lead me to becoming like that monster. So obsessed with the object of my hatred that it consumes me. So please…"

She turned and offered her hand to the hunter.

"Help me," she finished.

The hunter looked at her hand for a minute before finally shaking it, "how are we going to do this?"

Diana looked at him right in the eyes, "together."

It got really quiet for a moment before…

"You know that doesn't really answer my question, right?" the hunter said.

"Ok, so I don't have a plan," Diana admitted, "if Jay were here, he would have one by now…"

"Let's start names and ages," the hunter said, "I'm Dan Winslow and I'm 20 years old and you are…?"

"Diana Thomas, 17 years old," Diana said, "now do you have a plan?"

She shifted positions and the Olympian Morphers with the Purple Gem on them fell out of her pocket.

"You dropped something," Dan said as he leaned back and grabbed it. The Gems started to glow a strong purple, illuminating Dan and Diana's faces.

"Uh...Hermes?" Diana said through her morpher, "I think I might have found a Purple Ranger."

"I'm picking up the readings here," Hermes said as he rapidly typed on the mosaic computer, "he seemed like the perfect candidate. The readings here claim he should even be able to morph due to his strong connection to the Gem!"

"Perfect," Diana said as she smiled, "knowing what little I know about Dionysus, I may actually have a plan..."

* * *

"Agh! I hate being tied up!" Nate shouted as he struggled against his bonds. He and the other five Rangers had been tied to separate trees in a grove forming a perfect circle. The trees were far enough apart that the Rangers couldn't help each other, even if they could move their hands.

"Is there anything you do like to do?" Valerie asked, "because all you keep doing is complaining about how much you hate what we're doing."

"Shut up, all of you!" Actaeon shouted.

"What are you trying to get out of us?" Jay asked, "you can't take our Gems from us and the Purple Gems are somewhere out in the woods. What could you possibly gain from tying us up?"

"Indeed, it makes no logical sense," Mera agreed.

"You six are one thing for me: bait for the Silver Ranger," Actaeon explained, "and she'll bring me the Purple Gems to save you!"

"How would she know of that deal?" Victor asked, honestly confused, "she wouldn't be able to figure that out on her own, right?"

"Well...you know...what part of 'shut up' do you kids not get?" Acteaon said as he pointed his crossbows at each of them in turn, "the next one to talk gets a crossbow bolt to the face!"

"You don't have to hurt them," Diana said as she appeared behind one of the trees and started to walk towards him, "you want the Gems, you can have them."

She continued to walk towards him as he started backing up, "that's close enough!" he shouted.

She stopped.

"Now where are those Gems?" he ordered, "hand them over and give me that power!"

"Alright, but be careful what you ask for," Diana said as she stepped back, "now!"

There was a slight rumbling as thick vines shot out of the ground and quickly move towards Actaeon. He flipped and weaved through them, dodging every single one.

"What's going on? Artemis doesn't have the power to do this!" Actaeon shouted.

"No, but Dionysus does," Dan said as he stepped from behind another tree and stood next to Diana. The morphers on his wrists had the Gems glowing with a brilliant purple light.

"Those aren't just any vines!" Diana shouted.

"They're grape vines!" Dan explained. He gestured towards the Rangers and more vines appeared and sliced through the ropes, freeing the teens.

"Who's ready to take down this horrible hunter?" Jay asked as he prepared his morphers, "it's morphing time!"

"Purple Olympian Power!"

"Gold Olympian Power!"

"Silver Olympian Power!"

"Pink Olympian Power!"

"Yellow Olympian Power!"

"Black Olympian Power!"

"Blue Olympian Power!"

"Red Olympian Power!"

There was a flash of light and in the team's place was their Ranger Forms. Jay nodded to Dan, who instantly knew what to do: begin the roll call.

"Dionysus, god of the vine! Purple Olympian Ranger!"

"Apollo, god of healing! Gold Olympian Ranger!"

"Artemis, goddess of the hunt! Silver Olympian Ranger!"

"Aphrodite, goddess of love! Pink Olympian Ranger!"

"Athena, goddess of wisdom! Yellow Olympian Ranger!"

"Hephaestus, god of the forge! Black Olympian Ranger!"

"Poseidon, god of the sea! Blue Olympian Ranger!"

"Zeus, god of lightning! Red Olympian Ranger!"

"Using the powers of the past to protect the future! Power Rangers Olympian Force!"

Dan's suit had gold highlights like the five main Rangers, and his visor design was two vines wriggling forwards to form an 'x' shape.

The Rangers then summoned their weapons, including Dan's new weapon.

"Vine Thyrsus!"

"Healing Staff!"

"Hunting Daggers!"

"Love Bow!"

"Battle Spear!"

"Blacksmith Hammer!"

"Ocean Trident!"

"Lightning Sword!"

Dan's weapon was a wooden staff wrapped in grape vines with a pinecone of the end.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" he asked into the morpher, "I'm a hunter, not a monk!"

"It should channel your grape vine powers," Hermes said through the morpher.

"Ok, I guess," Dan said as he hung back with Valerie. The other six Rangers charged with their respective weapons.

"What makes you think this time will be any different?" Actaeon asked as he dodged every weapon again and again

"Because we have him," Jay said as he backed up from the fight to point at Dan, "do your thing, Purple Ranger!"

"Thyrsus Vine Power!" Dan shouted as he raised the Thyrsus into the air before pointing it at Actaeon. Grape vines shot out of the staff and the ground surrounding Dan and swallowed up Actaeon in a large ball of vines. A small hole appeared to let the six Rangers jump in.

There was the sound of massive violence in the big ball of grape vines before Actaeon came flying out, covered in scratches and blood. The Rangers jumped out too and the ball dissipated as the vines went back into the ground.

"I think it's time to finish this!" Diana said as she shifted her Hunting Daggers into her Moon Bow, "Dan, feel like lending me a hand?"

"Diana," Dan said as he offered his Thyrsus to her, "it would be my honor."

Diana drew back her bow as Dan stood next to her, "Thyrsus Arrow with Moon Power!" she shouted as she released, "fire!"

The Thyrsus went flying. As Actaeon got up, grape vines shot out of the Thyrsus and tied his hooves to the ground. He struggled and struggled as the Thyrsus got closer and closer. Finally, somehow, the Thyrsus pierced right through him.

"This hunter just became the hunted!" he shouted as he fell forward and exploded in a burst of flame and ash.

The Thyrsus came flying back and Dan caught it.

"Well, that was fun…" he started before Jay came up to him.

"Hold that thought, Hades doesn't give up so easily," he said before pointing at Actaeon's remains, "look."

The remains were surrounded in blue flame before reforming into Actaeon, who then grew over even the tallest tree in the forest.

"That's what I call _big_ game!" Nate joked as Diana spoke into her morpher.

"Hermes, we need the Zords, now!" she ordered.

"On their way!" Hermes said as he typed a few commands into the mosaic computer.

The Deer Zord, Horse Zord and Bull Zord dashed over trees to reach the battle, while the Eagle Zord, Owl Zord, Raven Zord and Fish Zord, with the Fish Zord in the Eagle Zord's talons, soared over the giant monster.

Dan stood there confused as the Rangers prepared to jump into their Zords.

"What do I do?" he asked Jay.

"Knowing Hermes," Jay responded " there should be a Zord for you in three, two, one…"

A large purple Leopard Zord leapt over more trees to match the strides of the other land Zords.

The Rangers, Dan included, leaped into their Zords.

"All Rangers report in!" Jay ordered as all the Rangers put in their Gems and the cockpit came to life.

"Nate here, ready to kick butt!" Nate said.

"Victor speaking, wondering about new combinations using this Leopard Zord…" Victor said thoughtfully.

"Mera conversing, ready for confrontation!" Mera said stoically.

"Valerie reporting, I just love this part!" Valerie said.

"Adrian here, ready to take down the punk who targeted my sister," Adrian said, determined.

"This is Diana, hoping he suffers a bit for this," Diana said as she put her fist in her palm.

"Uh...is this thing on?" Dan said. His cockpit was the same as all the others with the visor design inside a circle on the back wall.

"We need to out-maneuver him," Jay said, "form Olympian Megazord: Centaur Mode!"

"Right!" the four other core Rangers said as they turned the knob to the correct mode.

"Adrian and Diana, " Jay ordered, "you two go into Silver Mode to try and box him in with melee attacks."

"You got it!" Diana said as she and Adrian flipped the switch to SILVER MODE

The Horse Zord was first, as it ran forward and had the head move into a chest cavity before closing up.

The Bull Zord was next, as it's head came off before the legs folded into the body. The entire Bull Zord then landed on the horse as the bodies clicked into place

Next came the Owl Zord. As its head detached from the body and the body detached from the wings, the wings clipped onto the sides of the Eagle Zord and expanded, forming the arms.

The Eagle Zord was next. As its wings clipped off together in one long arc-shaped piece and it's legs slid into its body before it connected to the Horse Zord and Owl Zord, it was now forming the entire body of the combination. The Eagle Zord head screeched and opened up it's mouth to fit the other side of the Owl Zord's head into it, revealing a different robotic face.

The Fish Zord clipped onto the back after folding a bit to form the quiver, with the dorsal fin splitting into "arrows". The Eagle Zord's wings went into the Megazord's left hand to create a bow.

"Olympian Megazord: Centaur Mode! Ready!" the Rangers shouted as they met up in the central cockpit. Jay was in the front with Nate diagonally to his right, Victor diagonally on his left, Valerie diagonally behind Nate and Mera diagonally behind Victor.

The Deer Zord leapt into the air as it's body began to transform. The front half of the body slid into the back half as the front legs popped off. The Raven Zord flapped its wings once more before they bend in the center. They folded down, covering the body with the entire body splitting in two, with the wings forming a covering over the legs. The Deer Zord came down and connected to the now split Raven Zord body forming the legs The front legs of the Deer Zord reattached by connecting to the back legs, now arms, forming thicker arms. The Deer Zord mouth opened, revealing a face hidden inside the head. It now looked like a robot in an animal pelt of some kind.

"Gemini Megazord: Silver Mode, ready!" the twins shouted as they joined together in a single cockpit, with Adrian on the left and Diana on the right.

"Let's attach the Leopard Zord!" Diana shouted as she pressed a few buttons. The Megazord's right arm came off and the Leopard's legs bent to form a arm-like shape. The tail lengthened to form a whip. Dan's cockpit came up next to Diana on the right, putting Diana in the middle and Adrian on the left.

"Gemini Megazord: Silver Mode with Leopard Power!" the three Ranger shouted as the Megazord posed.

The Olympian Megazord: Centaur Mode galloped in circles around Actaeon, firing arrows everywhere, but he dodged them all. He had not lost any agility when he grew. The Gemini Megazord: Silver Mode with Leopard Power went in for the attack.

"Oh, hold still," Diana said.

"Leopard Whip!" Dan, Diana and Adrian shouted together as the tail of the Leopard Zord "arm" expanded before the Megazord wielded it like a whip. It snapped the whip on the ground before sending it out to wrap around Actaeon.

"He's not going anywhere!" Diana said confidently, "take the shot!"

"You've got it!" Jay said before turning to Nate, "let's try one of the other colored arrows!"

"Let's go with black!" Nate said as he pulled the lever to the black arrow setting before all the Rangers pressed the trigger, "I hope this works! Anvil Arrow!"

The Megazord reached behind its back and picked out a black ended arrow. It fired it at point blank range into Actaeon's head. A large anvil appeared over Actaeon and fell down onto his head.

The Gemini Megazord unwrapped its whip from Actaeon as he fell to the ground.

He shouted "I guess my hunting prowess didn't impress you?" before exploding, with the two Megazords posing in front of it.

The Rangers celebrated in the cockpits as the Megazords powered down.

* * *

"And this is the Temple!" Jay said, giving the tour to Dan, "this is where we train and rest between battles."

"Look guys," Dan said, "as great as being a Ranger is, I have responsibilities to take care of. Hunting is a very small part of my life, and, thanks to Diana, I've decided to give that up. But I still have to have a job."

"What are you saying?" Diana asked, "are you quitting?"

"No, no, no," Dan said, "I'm just saying I might be better for big emergencies only."

"Like a reserve status, perhaps?" Mera offered.

"Exactly!" Dan said, "but first, how about Pizza? On me?"

"Sounds great!" Nate shouted.

"I guess we finally found something he does like…" Valerie said.

Everyone laughed as the team, now one member stronger, left through the glowing doors into the great big city they called home.

**Thanksgiving and Winter Break are coming up for school, so we'll see how much I can push out before the beginning of the new year. My goal is to be half way done the series. How many chapters will that be? You'll just have to wait and find out!**


	14. A Golden Opportunity

**Hi! I'm not dead! Just really busy with finishing up school for the semester, and then working a lot over break (translation: finished school and then sat around watching Disney Plus all day, then going to work about 3 days a week). I know I said about once a month and while I may have skipped December and January, I won't be skipping February (as you can see). I just have been suffering from a lack of interest, luckily, by the end of writing this chapter, I seem to have gotten my drive back. Just bear with me, please. **

**One more thing: I added this to the first chapter, but I'll also say it here. There is now a Power Rangers Fanon Page for this series. While it isn't up to date yet, I plan on adding to it as the series moves along. **

**Anyway, enjoy the chapter, and thank you for your patience.**

**Power Rangers Olympian Force Chapter 14: A Golden Opportunity**

"Big announcement before I start the lesson today," Mr. Ford said as he got up from his desk, "as many of you know, the school's art and music competition is coming up this weekend. As such, I expect to see all of you in the gym then to support your classmates."

His announcement was met with many students rolling their eyes.

"Yeah, like anyone will actually show up to support their classmates," Jay remarked to himself.

"Anyway, on to the lesson…"

* * *

"I'm assuming you heard about the art competition in your first class today?" Mera asked as she and Jay sat down at the lunch table.

"Yeah, and they actually expect us to show up!" Nate said before he began to laugh.

"Hey, my brother's in that competition!" Diana shouted as she walked up to the table and sat down, glaring at Nate all the while.

"Calm down, you two," Valerie said, putting her hands between the two teens, "just…play nice, alright?"

"They started it!" both Nate and Diana shouted as they pointed at the other.

Jay just facepalmed as Victor looked on, confused by the behavior he was seeing.

"Ok, I heard that from across the cafe," Adrian said as he sat down next to his sister, "who started what?"

"Nate was laughing about the competition, and Diana was defending everyone in it," Jay explained to the newcomer.

"You know they have door prizes, right?" Adrian said.

"Wait, you get free stuff for showing up? Seriously?" Nate said, his eyes glowing, "why didn't the teachers just start with that!?"

"Perhaps it could be that they actually wanted people to show up for support instead of greed?" Mera asked.

"Why do I feel like we just opened a can of worms?" Jay asked as Nate looked off into the distance, probably seeing the free stuff he would get.

* * *

"First five, then seven, and now eight?!" Hades roared as he slammed his fist on his throne, "eventually they're going to run out of colors, right?"

"Of course, my lord," Persephone said, "I couldn't agree more."

"Now where is that bronze-plated fool Gryphon?" Hades asked.

In response, Gryphon stepped out of the shadows, "you rang, master?" he asked as he kneeled.

"Yes, I did," Hades responded, "and I want answers! I ordered you to protect Actaeon, and yet you were nowhere to be found during or after the battle!"

"I found no reason to bloody my sword in that fight," Gryphon replied, "Actaeon proved strong enough in the first battle that I assumed he could win the second. How was I supposed to know the Purple Olympian Gems could power a Ranger form?"

"That's no excuse!" Hades roared before changing back to a normal tone, "but it appears that, somehow, the Rangers and Hermes keep finding the perfect mortals to bond to the Gems. We need to keep a better eye on them."

"Of course, master," Gryphon said, "but how?"

"Leave that to me," Hades said, "now, I want you to see that my Spartoi army is expanding at the proper rate. I'll maintain the campaign against the Rangers."

"As you command," Gryphon said as he stepped back into the shadows.

"How he does that in solid bronze armor, I'll never know," Hades commented, "it's really hard to do anything surrounded in solid metal...oh!" he suddenly stood up, "I've got it!"

"What is it, my lord?" Persephone asked, "what have you figured out?"

"How to stop the Rangers in their tracks!" Hades announced, "and if the Rangers can't move, they can't search for the remaining Gems!"

"But how would you accomplish this?" Persephone asked.

"Midas!" Hades shouted as he sat back down on his throne, "I have need for you!"

He reached into the blue fire in the brazier next to his throne and threw a ball of it at the wall, creating a blue portal. Out stepped a fat man with the ears of a donkey. His clothes were golden silk, and he had a very prestigious air around him.

"Go up to Earth and used your powers to stop the Rangers' search.

"I hear you, sire, and I'll tell you, this job is good as gold!" he said as he jumped through a second blue portal.

"I know," Hades smiled as he leaned back in his throne, "the Rangers can't win this time."

* * *

"So, were _you_ going to the contest tomorrow?" Valerie asked as she and Jay walked down the street. School and training had just ended and Jay was now walking Valerie back to her house.

"Let's see...support my friends or sleep?" Jay asked himself out loud, "I might need to think about this one…"

Valerie smiled, "Well, don't spend too long thinking about it, there isn't much time left to decide anyway, the contest _is_ tomorrow."

The two were about to pass a dark alley when someone or something stepped out of it. The light of day revealed it to be Midas.

"Times up," Midas grinned as he pressed his palms onto Jay and Valerie, who could only watch in horror as liquid gold quickly traveled from the contact point to the rest of their bodies.

* * *

"I assume you're ready for tomorrow?" Diana asked her brother as they walked down the street a few streets over from where Jay and Valerie had just been attacked.

"Yeah," Adrian said as he sketched on his drawing pad as he walked, "I just gotta figure out what to add to my song."

"First, you need to watch where you're going," Diana said as she went up beside her brother and navigated him through the crowd of people, "and second, how does drawing help you write music?"  
"All the arts are connected: music, painting, even sculptures, they all compliment one another. A lot of the time, they work together to create a larger experience. Every movie has its soundtrack.

"I guess so. So what are you doing, putting your painting and music skills together?" Diana asked as the crowd began to thin out.

"Exactly," Adrian said as he nodded, "I'm going to play a song, and drawing helps me focus on my subject."

"And your subject is…?" Diana asked

"A secret," Adrian said.

"Fine, be that way," Diana said as they turned down a side street.

"Oh, don't be like that," Adrian said, "I just don't want to spoil the surprise."

"Speaking of surprises…" a voice said off to the side.

Adrian and Diana looked over to see a darkened figure who quickly stepped into the light, revealing himself to be Midas. He pressed his palm to Diana, but Adrian dodged barely. He watched as his sister was turned into a gold statue that Midas then lifted onto his shoulder.

"Get back here!" he shouted as he prepared to chase after Midas. Once he started running, however, a group of Spartoi jumped out of a blue portal and blocked his way.

"Diana!" Adrian yelled as the distance between him and his sister grew.

* * *

"You ready?" Nate asked as he shifted into a fighting stance. He shifted his legs on the mat to a more advantageous position.

"But of course," Mera responded as she shifted into a different stance, "the _better_ question would be: are you ready?"

"You bet!" Nate said.

"Then let us begin!" Mera shouted as Nate charged at her. She leapt into the air and kicked him right square in the face, causing him to crumble to the ground, grabbing his face and groaning in pain. Victor looked up from his newest project for a moment before returning to it.

Hermes flew over to Nate and did some quick healing with his white-glowing hands.

"I am enjoying this," Mera commented as Hermes helped Nate up.

"Just because I can heal you, doesn't mean that you two can't fight nice," Hermes said as he flew back to the side of the mat.

"Well, I-" Mera began before she was cut off by the alarm. Hermes quickly flew over to the mosaic computer and started typing away. He turned back towards the two teens and frowned.

"Something's not right," he said, "I just lost track of Jay, Valerie and Diana all within the space of two minutes."

"What?" Nate said, "what do you mean you 'lost track of them'?"

"People do not just vanish into thin air," Mera agreed.

"Hermes?" Adrian's voice said, coming through the computer, "we may have a problem...A guy with donkey ears just kidnapped my sister, and now there's Spartoi blocking my way."

"I'm sending Nathanial, Victor, and Merrida now," Hermes said as the three rushed to the blue-glowing doors that swung open to accept them, then swung shut as they left.

* * *

"Get out of my way, you piles of bones!" Adrian said as he sidekicked a Spartoi into a wall. He tried to climb over some of the Spartoi, only to fall to the ground. He looked up to see Mera, Victor and Nate rushing towards him. Nate helped him stand up as the three flanked him.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Adrian asked the three.

"Yeah, I think that it's morphing time!" Nate shouted.

The four crossed their arms over their chests as the gems glowed with power.

"Gold Olympian Power!"

"Yellow Olympian Power!"

"Black Olympian Power!"

"Blue Olympian Power!"

In a flash of multi-colored light, the teens were replaced by the Olympian Force Rangers!

"Alright, let's get through them and find my sister!" Adrian said before he led the other three into an attack against the Spartoi.

Adrian and Victor shoulder-charged the Spartoi, knocking them to the ground before Nate and Mera flipped over the two to strike some of the Spartoi still standing.

Adrian jumped towards the wall and kicked off it to punch a Spartoi in the face with the added force as Mera flipped onto Nate's shoulders before coming in for a flying double kick to defeat the remaining Spartoi.

"Come on!" Adrian ordered. The other Rangers nodded as they followed their gold-clad companion down the alley.

* * *

"My own little statue garden!" Midas cackled as he began to dance around the three teen statues of Jay, Valerie and Diana, "oh what fun!"

He was inside a warehouse full of actually marble statues, and his three golden ones.

His fun time was interrupted by someone smashing thorugh the front door, leaving a gaping hole the four remaining Rangers leapt through.

"Fun time's over, you ass!" Adrian said as the other Rangers flanked him.

"Nice one, man!" Nate said as he broke formation to give Adrian a fist bump, "you thought of that yourself?"

"As soon as I saw those ears," Adrian responded.

"Like I haven't heard that one before," Midas said as he rolled his eyes, "but now I have more subjects for my sculptures, and I'm feeling...inspired!"

He leapt towards the Rangers, who all rolled out of the way before summoning their weapons.

"Sun Bow!"

"Battle Spear!"

"Blacksmith Hammer!"

"Ocean Trident!"

The three melee Rangers swung their weapons around themselves to ward off Midas as the one ranged Ranger leapt up to higher ground in the form of giant metal boxes stacked up together. He rained down glowing arrows of gold energy.

"Damn it, if we can't touch him, we can't beat him!" Nate said as he tried stabbing Midas with his trident before recoiling away from Midas' hands.

"I agree, the only way to beat him would be a ranged attack," Mera said as she rolled away from Midas, trying to maintain her distance.

"But the strongest ranged attack we have needs Jay and Valerie to complete," Victor said as he slammed the ground, knocked Midas off balance for a minute with the shockwaves, "without them, we can't form the Olympian Crossbow!"

"I've got it!" Mera said, "I read about this in a Greek Mythology book!"

"And we've never needed any knowledge about Greek Myth before now?" Nate asked sarcastically, "that's literally what we always fight: Greek Myth monsters! Why have we never read a book about their weaknesses. To drag out the plot?"  
Mera ignored him and continued, "there was a river that blocked his power and returned things turned to gold back to normal. His weakness is water!"

"I've got plenty of that! One water blast coming up!" Nate announced as he pointed his trident at the three statues of his friends, one with each point. A jet of water shot out and soaked the statues.

For a second, nothing happened, but then the gold began to melt away, revealing the three teens.

"Oh, I can scratch that itch I've had for the last hour!" Valerie said as she scratched her arm.

"That's so much better!" Jay said as he stretched.

"Took you long enough," Diana commented as she crossed her arms.

"How about you guys Ranger up and we defeat this donkey-eared freak?" Nate suggested.

"Forget that, I'm outta here!" Midas shouted as he leapt into a blue portal that then quickly vanished.

The four morphed teens demorphed as the three unmorphed ones ran up to meet them.

"I knew you'd find us!" Jay said.

"Where'd he go?" Victor asked as he looked around.

"He went through a portal, most likely back to the underworld," Mera explained.

"Well, it's over, for now at least," Adrian said, "let's go home."

* * *

"Tell me, what do you call that performance?" Hades asked Midas as he kneeled in front of the throne.

"A first run?" Midas asked.

"I call that a failure!" Hades roared as the blue flames on his head shot up to become an inferno before falling back to normal height.

"No no!" Midas said, "I was testing them, and now I know to target all of them at once, that way no one can save them!"

"Do not fail me again," Hades warned, "or the Rangers will be the last of your worries!"

* * *

"Alright, I'm heading out early to the school!" Adrian called through his large house before stepping out the front door. The sun had just risen, and the prep time for the contestants in the competition would start soon.

He set down the empty street, alone in the world, if only for the moment. He enjoyed the silence for a minute.

Adrian quickly reached the school and walked in. Around him was the large amount of artistically and/or musically gifted students that attended the school. Adrian showed his ID card to the teachers guarding the door and was quickly let in.

Adrian looked around as he walked through the doors. Around him were large displays of art. From collages to statues, there was a bit of everything for everyone. There was even a stage in the back for musical performances.

Adrian sighed, these were his people, this was where he belonged.

He backed up to look around and bumped into a girl about his age who was also backing up the opposite direction. She had straight brown hair and a green dress with floral patterns on it.

"My bad, my bad!" Adrian said as he turned around, "wasn't looking where I was going."

"No, you're fine," the girl said, "I just wasn't looking where I was going, and we kinda…"

"Collided?" Adrian finished.

"Exactly the word I was looking for," the girl said as she stuck out her hand, "Christina, nice to meet you!"

Adrian took her hand and shook it, "Adrian," he said, "same to you."

"Anyway, what are you here for, specifically?" Christina asked.

"Music," Adrian answered, patting the messenger bag on his side, "what about you?"

"Well...it's better if I show you," Christina said as she led Adrian to her tables. On them were flowers of all varieties, but they were arranged in geometric patterns.

"Wow…" Adrian said as he took in their beauty, "that's a really unique thing you created."

"I know, right?" she said, "you see, what I did here was…"

As she continued on, it was easy to miss the green stones in the center of one of the flower displays.

* * *

Jay sighed as he looked at his watch in front of the school, "just like when we went to the movies all over again…"

"We're here!" Valerie said as she was followed by Mera, Diana, Victor and a very annoyed Nate.

"Well, not all of us want to be…" he grumbled as he crossed his arms.

"Come on, you are acting like a two-year-old!" Mera said as she pushed him along.

"Shall we go in?" Jay suggested, ignoring his complaining friend.

They were about to enter the building when a legion of Spartoi arrived in front of and around them, fencing them in. In front of the teens, a blue portal appeared and Midas stepped out.

"This journey into the world of art has been postponed...permanently!" he cackled as he rushed around and tapped his palm to all of the teens.

"Again!?" Jay shouted in frustration before turning into a gold statue for a second time.

Nate looked down at the gold spreading before looking back up, "this is such bulls-" he said before he froze too.

The other teens froze too soon to really react at all.

"Take them to my showroom!" Midas ordered the Spartoi before turning towards the school, "I'll get the last Ranger myself."

* * *

"-And that's what I did with this display," Christina finished.

"Amazing work," Adrian commented as he looked around, "but what are those two gems in the center? It can't be…"

"Hey! You can't just walk in here just yet!" one of the teachers said before he was suddenly cut off.

Midas stepped through the door and picked Adrian out of the crowd.

"You, I have your friends. I'll give you an hour to surrender, or I'll drop them from the top of...somewhere high!" he finished, somewhat flustered. He disappeared into a blue portal.

"Was he talking to you?" Christina asked.

"Yeah, I gotta go, see ya!" Adrian said as he rushed towards the exit.

"Yeah, well, I'm coming with you!" she said as she started after him. The green stones vanished from the flower display and appeared on her wrists as golden bands with the stones on them.

Adrian turned back to argue, but saw the new bands on this girl he barely knew.

"You too?" he asked quickly.

"Me too what?" she asked as the two of them started out the exit.

"Those bands, they mean something really important," Adrian said as the chilled air hit them as they ran outside, "where did you find those stones?"

"I found them one day, just lying in my rock garden," she said, "they seemed special, so I put them in my flower display."

The two of them were halfway to the warehouse where the teens had fought last time when Adrian finally explained.

"Have you heard of the Olympian Force Power Rangers?" he asked as he slipped on his morphers.

Christina quickly nodded, "who hasn't, they only save the city once a month at least."

"Well," Adrian said as he slowly began to run out of breath, but he kept running, "Gems like them grant the Rangers their abilities."

"What!?" Christina said as she stopped. Adrian stopped and turned back before running back to meet her.

"You're going to be a Power Ranger now," he explained. The two of them looked at each other for a minute.

"I don't want to be a Power Ranger," she said simply.

The two were about to discuss it further, but some Spartoi came to block their way.

"Just follow my lead," Adrian said, "Gold Olympian Power!"

He ran forward into a pillar of light and on the other side he emerged the Gold Olympian Ranger!

"What the heck," Christina said "Green Olympian Power!"

She ran forward into a pillar of green light and emerged on the other side the Green Olympian Ranger!

She had a light-green coloring to her, and had the skirt of the female members of the team. Her belt and morphers were gold and her helmet was in the shape of a scythe turned at a 45 degree angle.

"This feels amazing!" she said as she looked at herself, "I feel like I could lift 3 tons!"

"Wouldn't try it," Adrian grunted as he leaped into the center of the Spartoi before side kicking one into a wall and then judo-throwing another into a dumpster.

"One problem with me being a Power Ranger…" Christina said as she tried pushing through the Spartoi to reach Adrian.

"And that is?" Adrian asked as he hook kicked a Spartoi into the wall again.

"I'm a pacifist."

Adrian turned to look at her as he stopped fighting. The Spartoi looked confused as to why neither Ranger was attacking.

"You're a what!?" Adrian said as he went back to punching and kicking the Spartoi.

"I'm a pacifist, it means…"

"I know what it means!" Adrian said as he slammed the last Spartoi into the ground before they all dissolved, "a pacifist superhero! Who would've thought?"

"I don't mind helping people, as long as no one gets hurt," Christina explained, "violence isn't going to solve anything."

"Well...you know what? I might be able to work with this," Adrian said, "ok, here's the plan…"

* * *

"I gave the Gold Ranger one hour to surrender and what does he do? Not surrender!" Midas shouted at the Spartoi standing next to him, "now Hades gave me you piles of bones for a reason! Help me defeat this...this...teenager with attitude!"

"Someone ring for me?" Adrian said as he walked into the warehouse, still morphed.

"This doesn't look like surrendering to me!" Midas yelled, "don't you care about your friends? How about your sister?"

"Yeah, I care about them enough to know that they would want me to keep fighting!" Adrian shouted.

"Spartoi! Get him!" Midas yelled as he pointed at Adrian.

As Adrian got into combat with the Spartoi, no one was paying attention to the golden statues. Midas was too enthralled in the battle, waiting for his chance to jump in and turn the last Ranger to gold.

Christina slowly entered the warehouse, fire hose in hand. She rolled behind a pile of crates and slowly snuck around the corner towards the frozen teens. She pulled back the release on the hose and held on tight as it fired a jet of water at the statues. Wherever the water hit caused the gold to melt and the teens to be freed.

Jay wasted no time in strapping on his morphers, quickly followed by the others.

"Ready?" he prompted.

"Ready!" the other five teens said as all six crossed their arms.

"Silver Olympian Power!"

"Pink Olympian Power!"

"Yellow Olympian Power!"

"Black Olympian Power!"

"Blue Olympian Power!"

"Red Olympian Power!"

There was a flash of light, and the Rangers were transformed.

"Alright, team, take them down!" Jay ordered as the Rangers ran towards the Spartoi.

"Finally!" Adrian shouted at the Rangers leaped into battle, "I was hoping to get some help here!"

"See you've been busy," Jay said as he elbowed a Spartoi in the face before side kicking it into the wall, "who's your new friend and what is she doing?" he asked as he gestured quickly to the Green Ranger who was trying to stop the Rangers from attacking the Spartoi.

"Oh…" Adrian said as he rubbed the back of his helmet, "that's Christina, and she's a pacifist."

"Look, lady, I gotta kick these skeleton's butts, so move!" Nate ordered as she pushed Christina out of the way so he could advance on the Spartoi again.

"But violence isn't going to solve anything!" Christina protested.

"Unfortunately, it kind of does," Valerie said as she landed from a flip over next to Christina, "look, if you don't want to fight, that's fine. Just stay out of the way."

Midas leapt at Christina, who put her arms up to protect herself, which summoned a scythe that she then blocked the attack with.

Midas growled and struck at her again. She nimbley dodged to safety. Midas turned around to find Victor standing there with his hammer, prepared to strike.

"Uh...any chance we can talk about this?" Midas joked before Victor wound up and swung his hammer into Midas' mid-section, causing him to fly into a wall, which cracked.

"Rangers, let's form the Olympian Crossbow!" Jay ordered as the primary Rangers summoned their weapons and combined them, with the twins on either side creating a Gemini Arrow.

"Olympic Lightning Storm!" Jay shouted, "fire!"

"Gemini Arrow!" Adrian and Diana shouted, "fire!"

The three projectiles turned into one, the sword absorbing the arrows into its own power, and hit Midas in the mid-section again.

"I just wanted to get the gold!" Midas shouted before exploding in a cloud of fire and ash.

The Rangers sent their weapons back to the pocket dimension and walked up to Christina, who slowly backed away from the teens.

"I...I don't want any part of this!" she shouted as all eight teens demorphed, "this violence...it...it just causes more suffering for all involved!"

"I'm not going to argue this," Jay said, "but if you don't want to fight, you don't have to."

"I...I don't?" Christina asked, "then what do I do with these...powers?"

"Use them to help people," Adrian said, "we can't be everywhere when battle occurs. Help get civilians to safety. Move debris from the battles, there's so much more to helping people than fighting."

"You're not going to demand the Gems for someone who wants to use them?" Nate half-whispered to Jay.

"We don't really have a choice," Jay whispered back, "the Gems chose her, not us."

"Hey!" Adrian shouted as he looked at his watch, "we got an art competition to get to, let's go!"

He and Christina ran off together, with the rest of the team not too far behind.

* * *

After freeing the teacher from his statued fate, the teens could finally enjoy the art competition. As they walked in, a man rang a bell.

"We have our 100th person! What's your name, young man?" he asked as he pointed at Nate.

"I'm Nate," Nate said, "what do you mean '100th person'?"

"It means you get a prize!" the man said as he reached into his bag.

Nate waited with bated breath for his prize.

"Here, have a frisbee," the man said. Nate's face immediately dropped.

"A frisbee!? A frisbee!?" Nate started before the other teens grabbed it and dragged him away.  
"Thank you, sir," Mera said to the man as she pushed Nate along.

"A frisbee...:" Nate muttered, "all this effort it took to come here and I got a frisbee…"

"You know, the rest of us came too, and we got nothing," Valerie reminded him.

"Now, I better get on stage, I'm up soon!" Adrian said as he grabbed the bag he had left at Christina's table.

A few minutes later, Adrian was up. He opened the bag and pulled out a lyre.

"I'd like to dedicate this next song to the most important people in my life: my friends."

He started to play, and Jay smiled. Even if it didn't win the contest, it was a song worth its weight in gold.

**And that's a wrap! Finally done! Took over 2 months to write a little over 4500 words. Here's hoping to finish the next one in half the time or less!**


	15. Family Matters

**Hey, fellow Ranger Fans! I'm glad to bring you Chapter 15! This is actually earlier than I planned to have it finished, but things just worked out enough for this to be early. I want to thank JTWAS1994 for his continued support and reviews, as well as infused-with-madness for his following of my story and SIr Perfluous (who inspired my story in the first place with his Power Ranger stories, check them out!) for his review. Anyway, on with the story!**

**Power Rangers Olympian Force Chapter 15: Family Matters**

"I need more time…" Hades growled as he looked at the flame-formed vision of his army, "I need to keep the Rangers distracted!"

Hades was about to continue his monologue when the doors to his throne room flew open and a strange creature walked through. She had three heads on long necks, 2 arms that looked like heads and a head design on her chest, giving her six heads total.

"It's been almost 2 months! When am I getting revenge on the Blue Ranger that slaughtered my sister, Charybdis?" she asked, "do you expect me to wait forever?"

"No, Scylla," Hades said as he schemed, "I've just been waiting for the right time to use you, and I think now is that time!"

Hades dipped his hand into the brazier and pulled out a blue fireball that he threw at the wall. The fire formed into a ring that quickly became a portal. Scylla walked through.

"Beat this, Rangers!" Hades cackled.

* * *

"Man, it's been a quiet week," Jay said as he sat down at the lunch table, "no monsters, no Spartoi, just boring old normal stuff."

"Are you really complaining?" Valerie asked as she sat down beside him, "I think it's kind of nice to get a break."

"Besides, Thanksgiving is this week," Mera said as she joined the conversation, "time for family and rest."

Victor nodded in agreement.

"Speaking of families, I guess we don't know much about yours," Jay said, "care to share more about them?"

"Not really," Nate said before he started devouring his burger.

"Ok then…" Valerie said as they all looked at each other. The conversation had hit a dead point, and the teens decided to just enjoy their lunches instead.

* * *

It was after training for the day, and the sun was slowly setting.

Nate sighed as he crossed the street to his house.

'The others just wouldn't understand,' he thought as he unlocked the front door and walked in.

"I'm home!" he shouted through the house and up the stairs.

"Nathanial, is that you?" a woman shouted back down the stairs.

"No, it's some stranger who just happens to sound exactly like me," Nate said to himself as he climbed up the stairs. He walked into the first room, and was met by a wall of sound. There was screaming and crying and yelling from every corner of the room.

Nate was about to step forward before two young children rolled right in front of him. They were in a wrestling match, and neither was giving an inch.

Nate stepped around them and found his mother in the middle of 4 children. She was a 40ish year old African-American woman with her hair tied up in a bun. She was holding one child in her arm, holding the hand of another one, and stopping two from fighting with the rest of her body.

"Hello, Nathanial," Mrs. Seymor said, "how was your day?"

"Not as crazy as your, apparently," Nate said as he grabbed the child from his mother's arm and put him in the crib before grabbing the other one's hand from his mother's and leading him to the play area.

"It's been one of those days," his mother said as she put the four fighting children in time-out.

"I can tell," Nate replied.

"Well, I wouldn't have had this many children if I couldn't handle them," his mother said as she sat down next to the playing child.

"I just wish we could afford a nanny or something," Nate said, "you need the help."

"Your father's doing the best he can, but there's only so much he can do," his mother explained, "being a journalist for a newspaper doesn't pay as much as it used to."

"I keep telling you that he needs to go digital," Nate said, "online news sites could use a man like him."

"Eventually, we'll be able to afford a computer, and then he can start making some real money," Mrs. Seymor said as she stood up, "now watch the kids for a minute as I go freshen up."

"Mm hm," Nate said as he watched the child play, "I'll make sure nothing goes wrong until you get back."

As soon as his mother left the room, the children in time-out stood up and ran to hug their brother.

"Hey, guys," Nate said, "you know Mom's gonna throw a fit if she finds out your breaking time-out rules."

"We know," the four children chorused.

"We just wanted to see you!" one said.

"Yeah!" the others agreed.

"Alright, you saw me, now back in those seats," Nate said as he herded the four children back into their chairs. Mrs Seymor came back into the room, and found all of the children where she left them.

Nate stood up and walked out of the room, "I got homework to do, but just ask if you need help."

"You do your homework, I'll manage."

* * *

"Nathanial! Time for dinner!" Mrs Seymor shouted up the stairs.

Nate walked downstairs and found the dining room to be as much of a mess as the play room had been. The children were everywhere, knocking things over and trying to find something to do.

"Alright," Nate said as he grabbed the smallest of the kids and put him in a high chair, "time for dinner, guys. You know the drill."

The kids, excluding the baby, all climbed into their chairs as Mrs Seymor walked in with a steaming hot large bowl. She set it down on the table and then went back for bowls.

"Vegetable soup," she said as she came back in with mix-matched bowls, "dig in!"

Nate helped pour the soup into the bowls and then filled his own.

"Where's Dad?" Nate asked as he sat down.

"He called and told me the newspaper have him looking into some sort of monster in the lake in the park," his mother said, "it's apparently like Nessie or something like that."

'Might need to look into that tomorrow,' Nate thought to himself.

"I was actually going to bring the family to the park tonight and surprise him," Mrs Seymor said.

'Or tonight,' Nate thought before speaking out, "sure, sounds great!"

"Now dig in before it gets cold," Mrs Seymor said, and Nate could only agree with his mother and his grumbling stomach.

* * *

"I know I said Tuesday was 'date night' for us, but I didn't really mean every Tuesday!" Valerie argued playfully as she and Jay sat down in the booth.

"Hey, I thought you'd at least appreciate the variety," Jay playfully argued back, "I could have picked the same place over and over."

Valerie looked around, it was a small diner on the west side of town. While it wasn't the fanciest place in the world, it wasn't a total dive either.

Valerie was about to respond when her and Jay's morphers went off. Jay looked around quickly before pulling it out of his pocket and putting it on.  
"This is Jay," he said.

"Hey, fearless leader," Nate said through the morpher, "I know it's date night and all, but have you heard the rumors around the lake?"  
Jay looked up at Valerie, who shook her head.

"Nope, what about it?" he asked.

"Apparently there's some kind of monster in the lake. My family and I were about to go, and I wanted to make sure someone was aware. You know, in case we get attacked or something," Nate explained.

Jay blinked a few times in surprise before answering.

"That's...actually good planning," Jay said, a little taken aback by his teammate's forethought.

"Yeah, yeah," Nate said, shrugging it off, "whatever. Nate out."

Jay put his morpher back in his pocket and looked at Valerie.

"What just happened?" he asked, "Nate seemed a little...different."

"Maybe he's just becoming more responsible due to his family dynamic," Valerie said before taking a sip of her water.

"So being with his family makes him more responsible?" Jay asked.

"Exactly," Valerie said, "it's a good change for him."

"Ok…" Jay said, not convinced, "now where did that waiter go?"

* * *

Nate and his family walked down the path in the park. The baby was in a stroller, and all of the other kids were walking around Nate and his mother, who was pushing the stroller.

"I can't see anything!" one of the kids shouted. Nate knelt down and put him on his shoulders.

"Can you see now?" he asked.

The other kids started to complain about how they wanted a turn as the family finally reached the lake. Nate put the kid on his shoulders down, and tried to find his father. Eventually, he saw him by the side of the lake.

"Hey! I found Dad!" he announced.

All of the children ran up to their father at once. He was a man in his fifties, with black hair but graying temples. He knelt down and was tackled by all 5 kids at once.

"Glad to see you too, kids, but Daddy needs to breathe now," Mr Seymor said as he rolled the kids off of him.

"Hey, Dad," Nate said as he reached out a hand to help his father stand up. His father took it and Nate pulled his father up.

"Hey," his father said as he brushed the dirt off his pants, "how are you doing?"

"Fine, I guess," Nate said, "find any monsters yet?"

Mr. Seymor shook his head, "nothing," he said simply as he turned his back to the lake.

Nate looked over his father's shoulder and saw a dark mass fastly approaching.

"Dad! Move!" he shouted as he shoved his father out of the way. A head on a long neck came flying at Nate and sent him flying into the air before hitting a tree. He groaned as he quickly got up.

"Get out of here! Now!" Nate shouted. His mother and the children ran away, but Nate's father got up from the ground and stood frozen in fear as a large, scaly creature rose from the water.

"Dad, you gotta get out of here!" Nate said as he ran towards the two.

A head attached to a long neck wrapped around Nate's father's waist and dragged him into the water.

"Blue Olympian Power!" Nate shouted as he crossed his morphers over his chest. In a flash of blue light, Nate morphed in the Blue Olympian Ranger.

"This is Nate, I need back-up now!" he shouted before diving headfirst into the lake.

Luckily, the lake wasn't very murky, and Nate could see well enough to know which direction to go: forward. Nate summoned his Ocean Trident as he swam forward. Ahead of him, he could see his now unconscious father being dragged by Scylla towards the bottom.

Nate surged forward and tried to stab the head with his trident, but pulled back when the head moved away, using his father as a shield. Nate growled. He couldn't hit his father with his trident, but he couldn't just let Scylla get away.

Nate sent his trident to the pocket dimension and tried karate chopping the neck. This proved ineffective, as the chop just bounced off Scylla's hard scales.

Finally, Nate just used his strength to try prying his father from Scylla's grip. As he pulled on the neck, he felt Scylla's hold weaken just enough for Mr Seymor to be freed. Nate let go of the neck and pulled his father up to the surface.

As they broke the surface, Mr Seymor coughed as he could finally breathe. He opened his eyes and looked around.

"Where am I? Where's the monster?" he asked frantically.

"You're safe, sir," Nate said as he tried to disguise his voice, "but I need to get you onto dry land."

"My family…" Mr Seymor said as he and the Blue Ranger swam towards the edge of the lake, "did they get away?"

"They did," Nate said, "one boy went to get help, and the rest ran the other way."

The two reached land and stepped back onto the grass.

"Now, sir," Nate said, "I need you to run. It's not safe for you here."

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Mr Seymor said as he ran off in the same direction the rest of the family had run off to.

Scylla climbed out of the lake and glared at the Blue Ranger with her six heads.

"I wanted you to feel the pain of losing a family member like I did!" she shouted, "I'll just make you feel the pain of death instead!"

"I'm sorry. Did you say 'losing a family member'?" Nate asked, "what do you mean?"

"My sister Charybdis!" Scylla said, "you murdered her! You and the Red Ranger!"

"She was trying to murder us first!" Nate argued.

Scylla was about to argue further when Jay, Victor, Mera, Valerie, Adrian and Diana, already morphed, flipped through the air and landed next to Nate.

"We came as soon as we could," Mera said.

"Are you OK?" Valerie asked.

"Fine," Nate said, "but this monster threatened my family! Let's take her down!"

"Right!" Jay said, "let's go!"

The Rangers charged, summoning their weapons as they did. Jay came in with a strong horizontal slash that was deflected by Scylla's scales. Nate was next and struck with a powerful stab with his trident that had the exact same effect. Victor swung his hammer down in a bone-crushing attack that once again bounced off. Mera stabbed with her spear and, once again, the weapon bounced off. Valerie and Adrian launched several glowing arrows that bounced off, causing the other Rangers to have to dodge their own teammate's attack. Diana ducked and weaved past the arrows and Scylla's heads to come in for a double stab with her daggers which bounced off, just like all of the other attacks.

The Rangers regrouped in front of Scylla again.

"This doesn't seem to be working," Adrian said.

"Our attempts are proving ineffective," Mera agreed.

"Her scales are deflecting all of our attacks," Valerie said.

"Well, fearless leader?" Nate asked Jay, "any ideas?"

"Maybe...It might just work…" Jay said to himself before looking up at the team, "OK, here's the plan…"

A few moments later, the team broke their huddle and turned towards Scylla.

"Let's go!" Jay shouted as he, Nate, Victor, Mera and Diana charged at Scylla. Scylla lashed out with her heads, attempting to bite the attackers in half. The Rangers rolled out of the way and each one grabbed a head and put it in a headlock.

"Valerie! Adrian! Do it now!" Jay ordered as he struggled to hold onto the head. He put his hands in her mouth and started to force it open.

Valerie took aim and fired an energy arrow into Scylla's mouth before heading to the next head being held open by Nate. She and Adrian did this for each of the five heads the other Rangers were holding.

The Rangers let go and backed up as Scylla started thrashing around in pain. They backflipped away as the heads got closer and closer.

Finally, Scylla stopped and collapsed, finally defeated. She exploded in a cloud of fire and ash as the Rangers posed in front of it.

"A job well done," Mera commented as the Rangers walked away.

"Yup," Victor agreed.

"Now I gotta find my family and…" Nate said before looking behind him, "aw, come on!"

The Rangers turned around to find Scylla's remains reforming in a blue light before growing many stories above them.

"This is more like it!" Scylla laughed as she slammed one of her head-arms on the ground near the Rangers, shaking them up.

"Alright, send the Zords!" Jay ordered into his morpher.

The Eagle, Owl, and Raven Zords swooped in, with the Eagle Zord carrying the Fish Zord in its claws. The Deer Zord, Bull Zord and Horse Zord ran into the park, stopping on the grass.

The Rangers leapt into their cockpits and put their Olympian Gems in the slots.

"Let's form Centaur Mode!" Jay ordered as the Rangers turned their dials to the correct mode.

The Horse Zord was first, as it ran forward and had the head move into a chest cavity before closing up.

The Bull Zord was next, as it's head came off before the legs folded into the body. The entire Bull Zord then landed on the horse as the bodies clicked into place

Next came the Owl Zord. As its head detached from the body and the body detached from the wings, the wings clipped onto the sides of the Eagle Zord and expanded, forming the arms.

The Eagle Zord was next. As its wings clipped off together in one long arc-shaped piece and it's legs slid into its body before it connected to the Horse Zord and Owl Zord, it was now forming the entire body of the combination. The Eagle Zord head screeched and opened up it's mouth to fit the other side of the Owl Zord's head into it, revealing a different robotic face.

The Fish Zord clipped onto the back after folding a bit to form the quiver, with the dorsal fin splitting into "arrows". The Eagle Zord's wings went into the Megazord's left hand to create a bow.

"Olympian Megazord: Centaur Mode! Ready!" the Rangers shouted as they met up in the central cockpit. Jay was in the front with Nate diagonally to his right, Victor diagonally on his left, Valerie diagonally behind Nate and Mera diagonally behind Victor.

"Alright, Sis," Adrian said to Diana through his morpher, "let's form Silver Mode!"

The twins flipped the switch to SILVER MODE and the Zords began to transform.

The Deer Zord leapt into the air as it's body began to transform. The front half of the body slid into the back half as the front legs popped off. The Raven Zord flapped its wings once more before they bend in the center. They folded down, covering the body with the entire body splitting in two, with the wings forming a covering over the legs. The Deer Zord came down and connected to the now split Raven Zord body forming the legs The front legs of the Deer Zord reattached by connecting to the back legs, now arms, forming thicker arms. The Deer Zord mouth opened, revealing a face hidden inside the head. It now looked like a robot in an animal pelt of some kind.

"Gemini Megazord: Silver Mode, ready!" the twins shouted as they joined together in a single cockpit, with Adrian on the left and Diana on the right.

The Olympian Megazord: Centaur Mode galloped forward, pulling an arrow out of it's quiver and firing it at one of Scylla's open mouths. Scylla snapped her teeth down on it, splitting it in half and causing little to no damage.

The Gemini Megazord: Silver Mode stomped up to Scylla and tried to wrestle one of it's heads into the ground, but was quickly thrown off.

"What do we do now?" Valerie asked.

"We keep fighting!" Jay ordered as he pushed his controls forward.

The Olympian Force Megazord: Centaur Mode galloped forward, charging at Scylla and rammed into her, causing both the Megazord and Scylla to be damaged. Scylla responded by biting down on the Megazord with three of her heads, with one biting the head and two biting the arms.

The Rangers cried out as sparks flew from the controls.

The Megazord galloped back, away from Scylla.

"Our Megazord can't take another hit like that!" Victor warned.

"If anyone has any suggestions, I'm open to them," Jay said as the Megazord continued to back away from Scylla.

"I hate to be the voice of reason," Nate said, "but what if we put our Megazords together? The Zords are like family, right? And family sticks together!"

"Sounds good to me!" Jay said, "Adrian? Diana? Want to give it a try?"  
"We've got nothing better," Adrian admitted, "so let's do it!"

"Hermes, is there a way to combine the Megazords?" Jay asked through his morpher.

"There is," Hermes said, "sending information to your Zords now."

A new button popped out of the console for each Ranger with a "P" on it. One by one, the Rangers pressed it and the Zords quickly responded by splitting apart before coming together in a new combination.

The Bull Zord was the first to change, as the head came off, the body split apart and the legs flipped around 180ᣞ and the front and back legs combined.

The Horse Zord was next, as it's head went into a chest cavity while the front and back legs combined together and connected to the Bull Zord legs, forming a complete waist, legs and feet.

The Eagle Zord was next. As its wings clipped off together in one long arc-shaped piece and it's legs slid into its body before it connected to the Horse Zord, it was now forming the entire body of the combination.

Next came the Owl Zord. As its head detached from the body and the body detached from the wings, the wings clipped onto the sides of the Eagle Zord and expanded, forming the arms.

Fifth was the Fish Zord. As the entire dorsal fin and tail came off, it popped open completely in half before coming onto the Eagle Zord's body as a chestplate and combining together again. The tail folded into a plume that went onto the Eagle Zord's head to complete the helmet look. The horns from the Bull Zord head attached together and became a straight point before combining with the dorsal fin to create a large spear that went onto the Megazord's back. The Owl Zord body lengthened itself a bit before the head slid into a hole in the center, finishing the shield, which went on the right arm.

The Raven Zord's legs came off before the main body and head of the Raven Zord clipped onto the front of the Megazord's chestplate, forming a gentle u-shape with its wings. The legs attached to the Megazord's arms to form small wrist-bands/ gauntlets.

The Deer Zord split in half vertically before both halves slid out and the center rose out from between them, revealing a gladius hidden in there. The Deer Zord reattached at the waist, forming the bottom of an armored tunic resembling the one a Roman soldier would wear. The gladius went into the Megazord's left hand.

The Rangers met up in a single cockpit. Jay was in the front row in the center with Nate and Victor on his left and right respectively. Diana, Mera, Valerie and Adrian were sitting in that order in the back row.

"Pantheon Megazord, ready!" all seven Rangers announced.

The cockpit began to glow with all of the power this combination was putting out.

The Pantheon Megazord marched forward, shield in front to block Scylla's first head. The Megazord pushed the head aside with it's shield before slashing the head with it's gladius. The head came clean off as the blade cut through her once impenetrable scales like a hot knife through butter.

Scylla screamed out of her remaining heads in pain before the Pantheon Megazord cut another one off, leaving three. One by one the heads came flying at the Megazord in a blind rage, and one by one the Megazord cleaved right through them.

Scylla roared through the head on her chest as the necks lashed out like tentacles to wrap up the Megazord's limbs. The final head launched an energy beam out of its mouth that the Megazord absorbed with it's Raven Emblem/Armor and launched back at her with double the power. Scylla's necks let go of the Megazord as she weakly began to back away from her enemies.

"Begin final attack!" Jay ordered as the Megazord leapt into the air. The Eagle Zord's wings popped out of the Megazord's back to lift it higher and closer to the sun's rays reflected off of the Raven Emblem/Armor and struck the gladius that began to glow with the same light energy.

"Light of the Olympians!" the Rangers announced as the Pantheon Megazord came down in a large two handed slash with the sword.

"My sister! I have failed you!" Scylla roared as she collapsed and exploded in fire and ash.

"You may have failed your family, but I'll never fail mine," Nate said, "biological or self-created."

"That's the spirit!" Valerie cheered.

"Speaking of my family, I should go probably see if they're ok," Nate said as he tried to push Jay and Victor out of the way, "so scootch, or you will be scootched."

* * *

"Dad!" Nate said as he ran into his father's arms, "I ran for help, but couldn't find anybody...Sorry."

"It's fine. The Blue Ranger saved me!" Mr Seymor said, "he was amazing! I'm writing to the newspaper to get me on the Ranger story!"

"Sounds great, Dad," Nate said, "say, what was the name of the paper you work for again?"

"The Olympia Hills Sun," his father said, "why?"

"No reason," Nate said as he smiled while walking away, "no reason at all."

**Questions? Complaints? Suggestions? Things you liked? Didn't like? Loved? Leave them in a review! Until next time, May the Power Protect You!**


	16. Riddle Me This

**Hey guys. I know it's a week late, but this has turned into one of my favorite chapters yet. I had fun researching this particular monster. I want to thank ****JTWAS1994** **for his continued support, and DanielJenson for following me and the story. Now that that's out of the way, enjoy!**

**Power Rangers Olympian Force Chapter 16: Riddle Me This**

Mera Cadwalader looked up from her book for a moment before hiding her face behind the pages again. It was English class, one of the few places she was allowed to read in peace and quiet. Normally, she read specifically non-fiction books, but right now she was reading a Mythology book.

'Might as well prepare in case one of these monsters attack,' she thought to herself.

She looked at the top of the page, where the word "Sphinx" was in bold letters. Her eyes jumped down the page from paragraph to paragraph when suddenly…

"Miss Cadwalader?" Mrs. Adamson said, "are you still with us?"

"Of course," Mera said as she put the book down for a moment, "you just need to capitalize the name and put the title in italics to show it is a title."

"I guess you are paying attention," Mrs. Adamson said as she went back to the lesson, and Mera went back to her book.

* * *

"What do you mean you read through English class?" Jay asked as he and Mera sat down at the lunch table.

"I am just...how do I say this? Bored," she replied.

"I'm bored in class too," Nate said, "but I wouldn't be caught dead reading a book."

"Now, I think there's a difference," Valerie, "Mera, you can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you're bored because you already know the material."

"Precisely," Mera said, "Nathanial, you are bored because you do not care, I just already know what the teacher is going to say before the words come out of their mouth."

"That sounds totally...totally…" Nate said as he struggled to finish his sentence.

"Conceited?" Valerie offered.

"Yeah!" Nate said before leaning over to Victor and whispering, "what does conceited mean?"

"Beats me," Victor whispered back.

"Ah, Victor, good to see you joining the conversation," Adrian said as he sat down with Diana sitting across from him, "you honestly don't say a lot, do you?"

"I don't speak unless I have to," Victor said, "I just don't have a lot to say."

"Be like me," Nate said, "I don't think too hard about what I'm saying, I just say it."

"I don't really want to…" Victor said as he began to look uncomfortable.

"And you don't have to," Jay said as he quickly jumped to Victor's rescue. He turned his attention to Nate, "don't force him, man."

"I'm just saying that speaking up a bit more wouldn't hurt," Nate said, "nobody's forcing anything."

"Just don't make him feel uncomfortable, ok?" Jay said as he went back to his sandwich.

"I just would enjoy a challenge," Mera said, "a way to test my knowledge."

* * *

"So, the Yellow Ranger wants a challenge?" Hades said as he tapped his fingers on his throne, "I'll give her a challenge! Sphinx! I summon you!"

He reached into the brazier of blue flame and formed a fireball in it before hurling it at the wall, creating a portal. Out stepped a furry biped with large eagle-like wings. From the human head, it was assumed that the monster was female. The woman's head had jet-black hair that flowed over the wings a bit. Her furry body was a nice tan, matching the color of a lion. She had a 6-foot wingspan with her large wings and they maintained the tan color scheme of the body.

"Have I got a riddle for you!" she announced as she stepped out of the portal.

"Save it!" Hades said, "I don't have time for your games! I want you to challenge the Rangers to a battle of wits."

"What group has seven colors, armor, and are going to lose that challenge? The answer: The Rangers!" the Sphinx said.

"Just go! Before you give me a headache with your riddles!" Hades said as he threw another fireball to create a portal to Earth.

"What has…" the Sphinx started before Hades got up from his throne and pushed her through the portal.

"Can't stand her," Hades said as he sat back down, "so obsessed with riddles and questions."

"So you would force her onto the Rangers?" Persephone asked.

"What did I just say about questions?" Hades roared as the flames on his head flared up.

"My apologies, my lord," Persephone said as she bowed her head in submission.

'I hope the Rangers can overcome this challenge,' she thought.

* * *

Jay grunted as he fell onto the mat. Nate threw a few punches in the air.

"Man, I am on fire!" he boasted as Jay got up from the mat.

"Yeah, yeah," Jay said, "let's see if you can beat this!"

Jay jumped forward at Nate and did a flying side kick right into Nate's ribs. Nate felt the air leave his lungs as he crumpled to the mat in pain.

"Apparently not," Jay commented as he stood over Nate, "still, I think that's enough sparring between the two of us today."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Nate agreed as Jay helped him stand up, "besides, I'll just pay you back tomorrow."

Jay sighed as he and his teammate walked over to where Valerie, Adrian and Diana were practicing archery, "keep dreaming, hotshot."

Victor looked up from the anvil he was working at and then back down at his work. Mera had asked him to improve her Battle Spear, and Victor loved to get his hands dirty.

"Mera, this should go about 30 meters further than it could before, and won't lose as much power when traveling through the air," Victor said as he handed the spear off to Mera.

"Let us test that," she said as she pulled back her arm and hurled the spear through a dummy. It passed right through and kept flying until it hit the wall, which it punctured.

"And Victor delivers on another upgrade!" Jay announced as he walked up to Victor and patted him on the back, "good job, big guy!"

"It's no big deal," Victor said, "I just needed to calculate air resistance and…"

Jay nodded as Victor continued.

'Yeah, I have no clue what he's talking about,' he thought.

"...So now it functions much better than it did before," Victor finished.

"Yeah, great," Nate said, "now how about upgrading my Ocean Trident next? I was thinking, and I thought we could add laser blades to it and…"

Jay walked away as Nate continued talking about his "improvements" to his weapon. He was about to grab his bag and walk out when the alarms went off.

"I've got a monster attacking downtown," Hermes said as he rapidly typed away on the mosaic computer, "looks like it has company too."

"Nothing we can't handle," Jay said as the Rangers lined up, "ready?"

"Ready!" the other Rangers responded as they all crossed their morphers over their chest.

"Gold Olympian Power!"

"Silver Olympian Power!"

"Pink Olympian Power!"

"Yellow Olympian Power!"

"Black Olympian Power!"

"Blue Olympian Power!"

"Red Olympian Power!"

In a flash of colored light, the Rangers were transformed. Jay led the charge out the Doors of Janus and into downtown Olympia Hills. They found a small number of Spartoi marching forward, towards a bunch of civilians. The Sphinx was hidden behind the Spartoi, protecting her from the Rangers' gaze and long range weapons.

"Alright, let's focus on getting civilians out of here, and then fighting the monster," Jay ordered.

"Right!" the other Rangers agreed as they spread out to help the bystanders get clear of the Spartoi marching down the street.

"Keep calm!" Valerie said as she helped guide some people away from the minions.

"Everything's going to be fine," Adrian reassured as he also directed people away from the monster.

Finally, the Rangers had managed to get the civilians far along down the street, away from Hades' forces.

"Alright, guys, let's break through their formation!" Jay ordered.

"Hunting Daggers!"

"Sun Bow!"

"Love Bow!"

"Battle Spear!"

"Blacksmith Hammer!"

"Ocean Trident!"

"Lightning Sword!"

The Rangers summoned their weapons and set off to work.

Jay slashed through a Spartoi before stabbing his sword into the head of another one and hurling it into the air, where it was hit by a barrage of glowing pink and gold arrows from Valerie and Adrian.

Diana ran past multiple Spartoi while slashing with her daggers, leaving gashes in their bony structure that caused them to crumble to dust.

Victor brought his hammer around in a mighty swing to pulverize a Spartoi, leaving a pile of dust behind.

Nate drove his trident into a Spartoi's rib cage, but found he got it stuck. As he pulled and pulled, it didn't budge.

"Alright, you're part of my weapon now, capice?" he said before using his new Spartoi addition, struggling all the while to get free, to smash into other Spartoi.

Mera leapt over the remaining Spartoi to face the Sphinx alone.

"My riddle for you! What's yellow in name, but not in nature?" the Sphinx asked.

"Wait, what?" Mera said, very confused what was going on.

"Wrong answer!" the Sphinx shouted as Mera was suddenly bombarded in sparks that blasted all over her and launched her away.

The remaining Rangers ran over to their fallen comrade after defeating all of the other Spartoi and, for Nate, removing one from his trident.

"What happened?" Jay asked as he offered his hand to Mera.

"It's a Sphinx," Mera answered as she took Jay's hand and stood up, "it asks riddles."

"And you didn't solve it immediately?" Nate ridiculed.

"I was not expecting it," Mera answered, "it also requires the correct answer on the first try. When I gave a wrong one, it blasted me away."

"What if I just clobber it before it can ask a riddle?" Nate shouted as he leaped into the air, trident ready to strike.

The Sphinx crossed it's wings over its body and deflected the strike before flapping them open again. Every time Nate moved in to attack, the Sphinx deflected the attack with it's impervious wings.

"Tell me, what do you call an arrogant Ranger?" the Sphinx asked between strikes.

"Do you think I give a crap?" Nate asked as he moved in to attack again.

"The correct answer? You!" the Sphinx shouted as sparks blasted off of Nate's armor, sending him flying backwards next to the rest of the Rangers. Nate laid prone on the ground, groaning in pain.

"All together!" Jay ordered as he, Victor, Mera and Diana leapt at the Sphinx while Valerie and Adrian provided support with their arrows.

"I have three riddles for you!" the Sphinx said as it deflected the attacks with its wings again, "solve them all, and I admit defeat. Or you can try attacking me again. Who can do this all day? I can!"

The Rangers lined up in front of the Sphinx again.

"We don't really have a choice…" Jay said, "we can't get past those wings."

"Go on!" Nate demanded, "the faster we solve these riddles, the faster we can defeat you!"

"Very well," the Sphinx said, "I have 4 feet in the morning, 2 in the afternoon and 3 at night. What am I?"

Mera spoke quickly, "man! The answer is man!"

"What!? So quickly!?" the Sphinx asked as she was blasted back by a cloud of sparks. She quickly stood up.

"That was the Sphinx's riddle in ancient times," Mera explained, "man crawls as a baby, walks as a man and then uses a cane in old age. Hence the number of 'legs' the riddle calls for."

"Fine, now for a harder one!" the Sphinx said,

"Only one color, but not one size,

Stuck at the bottom, yet easily flies.

Present in sun, but not in rain,

Doing no harm, and feeling no pain.

What am I?

You have 30 seconds to figure it out!"

"Only one color…" Jay repeated.

"Present in sun, but not in rain…" Valerie said, "hmm, stumps me!"

"Don't look at me!" Nate said as he put his hands up, "I save the thinking for you guys."

"Give me but one moment…" Mera said.

"5...4...3...2…" the Sphinx counted down.

"A shadow!" Victor shouted, "the answer is a shadow!"

"What!?" the Sphinx shouted, "how did the Black Ranger of all Rangers figure it out?"

She was going to complain more when sparks flew from her and she kneeled on the ground, clutching her arm in pain. She quickly regained her composure and stood up.

"I don't get it," Nate said.

Victor spoke up, "'Only one color, but not one size.' A shadow is one color, but it's shape can change."

"Oh, I get it!" Jay said, "'Stuck at the bottom, yet easily flies.' A shadow is at the bottom of your feet, but easily disappears."

"Ok, I think I got it. 'Present in sun, but not in rain' means exactly what it sounds like, you can't find a shadow in the rain because there's no light!"

"And 'Doing no harm, and feeling no pain.'" Mera said, "a shadow does not really accomplish anything, but it's there."

"One more riddle and we win!" Jay announced, "ask it so we can defeat you!"

"Very well," the Sphinx growled, "I am the beginning of the end, and the end of time and space. I am essential to creation, and I surround every place. What am I?"

"Uh…" Victor said.

"Well…" Mera said.

"30 seconds are up. What is your answer?" the Sphinx asked.

"We don't know," Jay admitted.

"Too bad!" the Sphinx shouted as the Rangers were blasted and buffeted by the sparks that flew from their armor. The Rangers fell to the ground as they demorphed.

Jay looked up to see the Sphinx walking towards them.

"We might be in trouble…" Jay admitted as the Rangers stood up, groaning in pain, "now calls for a tactical retreat!"

The Rangers turned and ran from the Sphinx.

"Hermes, a door! Now!" Jay ordered as twin doors to one of the office buildings glowed blue before the Rangers ran through and the doors shut behind them.

The teens were breathing hard after the last battle, and soot and ash covered parts of them that the sparks had hurt.

"We couldn't even touch her!" Nate said as he slammed his fist on one of the pillars.

"We lost, it was bound to happen eventually," Adrian said, "we just need to learn from it."

Jay slowly walked over to the armor on display. The suits were badly damaged. Valerie noticed Jay and walked over to him, putting her arm on his shoulder.

"Hey, you good?" she asked.

"Just wasn't ready for this powerful a monster," Jay said as he clutched his wrist, testing it to make sure it hadn't been broken in the battle, "I'm not sure we can do this." His confidence was wavering a bit to reveal the worried teen inside.

"I know, but we need you," Valerie said, "if anyone can figure out a strategy to win, it's you."

"Not always," Jay said more confidently, "but I know someone who can."

He walked over to Mera.

"Mera, if anyone can figure out that riddle, it's you," Jay said before turning to Victor, "and if she can't, we need you to design something that can break through those wings."

"I might have something," Victor said, "I've been working on a new configuration for the Olympian Crossbow and I should be able to finish it in a few hours. I just need Diana and Adrian for a couple minutes."

"Diana, Adrian, you heard the man," Jay ordered, "if we want to defeat the Sphinx, we need to work together like never before."

Valerie just smiled as she watched Jay organize the team.

"There's the Jay I know," she whispered to herself before walking over to help.

* * *

"You failed!" Hades roared as he slammed his fist on his throne.

"When is failure not failure? When I have a plan to finally defeat the Rangers once and for all!" the Sphinx said, "no one can outthink me! I have the perfect strategy!"

"Do tell," Hades said as he leaned back in his throne, "I'm listening."

"If Spartoi surround the Rangers, they can't escape!" the Sphinx explained, "then I can ask my final riddle! You know that the harder the riddle is, the more powerful an attack I can turn it into, right?"

"Yes, I am quite aware how your powers work," Hades said, "now why don't you go use them?"

Hades reached into the brazier and formed a blue fireball from the flames inside. He threw it at the wall, creating a new portal to Earth.

"Who always follows orders?" the Sphinx asked, "I do! I'll destroy the Rangers for you with the power of my riddles!"

With that, she leapt into the portal, which quickly closed behind her.

"Now to sit back and watch the Rangers fall," Hades said as he lounged on his throne.

A look of worry crossed Persephone's face, but as Hades looked over at her, it quickly disappeared.

'Can the Rangers solve the Sphinx's riddle?' she thought to herself, 'or will they fall in the process?'

* * *

The Rangers were all crowded around Victor's anvil when the alarm went off.

"The Sphinx is back," Hermes announced.

"Everybody knows the plan?" Jay asked.

All six other Rangers nodded.

"It's morphing time!" Jay announced.

"Gold Olympian Power!"

"Silver Olympian Power!"

"Pink Olympian Power!"

"Yellow Olympian Power!"

"Black Olympian Power!"

"Blue Olympian Power!"

"Red Olympian Power!"

With a flash of light, the Rangers were all transformed before they ran out the Doors of Janus to face the Sphinx.

As soon as the Rangers exited the doors, Spartoi stepped out of portals all around them, blocking them off from escape.

"Did you figure out my riddle?" the Sphinx asked, "here it is again: I am the beginning of the end, and the end of time and space. I am essential to creation, and I surround every place. What am I?" '

"You are the letter e!" Mera announced at once.

"Impossible!" the Sphinx shouted before her body was bombarded by sparks, "how could you have figured it out? You cheated!"

"I actually recommended Google," Nate admitted, "but Mera here was so stubborn that she wanted to figure it out herself."

"We didn't cheat, and a deal's a deal," Jay said, "now you surrender!"

"Why would I surrender?" the Sphinx cackled, "you seven Rangers can't get past my wings!"

"How about eight?" a voice said from behind the Sphinx. In a flash of purple light, the Sphinx was surrounded in vines.

"How does it feel to be outsmarted?" Mera asked as Dan, morphed as the Purple Ranger, stepped out from behind the tied-up Sphinx.

"We knew that you would fight no matter what you said, so we came up with a plan," Victor explained, "you may be invulnerable from the front, but not from behind!"

"And if we wrapped up your wings, there was no way to stop us from doing this!" Mera announced as the Rangers set up the Olympian Crossbow, with a few modifications. Adrian's Sun Staff was helping the crossbow stay steady and the Hunting Daggers were added to the wider bow, on either side of the Lightning Sword. As Jay pulled back the bowstring, Nate and Victor put their hands on Jay's shoulders, then Mera's and Valerie's on their's and then Diana's and Adrian's hands on their shoulders, lending him their power for this one attack. Dan joined in, holding onto Adrian's shoulder.

"Eight Ranger Omega Strike, charged!" Jay announced as he infused all of the Ranger's power into the attack, fire!"

The Lightning Sword and Hunting Daggers fired out of the Olympian Crossbow. The Sword flew straight into the Sphinx with the Daggers following before etching a half-circle and then out along the Sphinx's skin, creating a glowing Omega Symbol etched into the Sphinx's chest in glowing energy.

"Who just defeated me? The Rangers!" the Sphinx shouted as she exploded, with the Rangers posing in front of it.

"Thanks for coming so quickly," Jay said as he gave Dan a high five.

"Mera said it was urgent, so I called in a sick day," Dan responded as he reciprocated the high five, "just don't let this become a habit, you hear?"

The Rangers laughed as they walked away, the Crossbow having disappeared into the pocket dimension. They didn't notice the remains of the Sphinx glowing blue and reforming.

"When is death not death?" the Sphinx asked as it grew to the size of a skyscraper.

"Looks like my sick day isn't over yet!" Dan said before speaking into his morpher, "Hermes, send the zords!"

"On their way now!" Hermes said as he rapidly typed away at his computer, "good to hear your voice again, Daniel."

With a screech, the Eagle Zord swooped down to claw at the Sphinx, slamming into it before retreating back into formation with the Owl and Raven, the Fish safe in its talons the whole time. The Bull, Horse, Deer and Leopard all ran in on the roadway to the Rangers' side.

"Oh yeah, you haven't seen this trick yet," Jay said as the Rangers leapt into their Zords, "form Pantheon Megazord!"

"Roger!" the other six core Rangers shouted as they pressed the corresponding button.

The Bull Zord was the first to change, as the head came off, the body split apart and the legs flipped around 180ᣞ and the front and back legs combined.

The Horse Zord was next, as it's head went into a chest cavity while the front and back legs combined together and connected to the Bull Zord legs, forming a complete waist, legs and feet.

The Eagle Zord was next. As its wings clipped off together in one long arc-shaped piece and it's legs slid into its body before it connected to the Horse Zord, it was now forming the entire body of the combination.

Next came the Owl Zord. As its head detached from the body and the body detached from the wings, the wings clipped onto the sides of the Eagle Zord and expanded, forming the arms.

Fifth was the Fish Zord. As the entire dorsal fin and tail came off, it popped open completely in half before coming onto the Eagle Zord's body as a chestplate and combining together again. The tail folded into a plume that went onto the Eagle Zord's head to complete the helmet look. The horns from the Bull Zord head attached together and became a straight point before combining with the dorsal fin to create a large spear that went onto the Megazord's back. The Owl Zord body lengthened itself a bit before the head slid into a hole in the center, finishing the shield, which went on the right arm.

The Raven Zord's legs came off before the main body and head of the Raven Zord clipped onto the front of the Megazord's chestplate, forming a gentle u-shape with its wings. The legs attached to the Megazord's arms to form small wrist-bands/ gauntlets.

The Deer Zord split in half vertically before both halves slid out and the center rose out from between them, revealing a gladius hidden in there. The Deer Zord reattached at the waist, forming the bottom of an armored tunic resembling the one a Roman soldier would wear. The gladius went into the Megazord's left hand.

The Rangers met up in a single cockpit. Jay was in the front row in the center with Nate and Victor on his left and right respectively. Diana, Mera, Valerie and Adrian were sitting in that order in the back row.

"Pantheon Megazord, ready!" all seven Rangers announced.

"Whoa!" Dan shouted from his zord, "you guys got room for one more?"

"Adding Leopard Power to this combination?" Nate asked, "you know it!"

The left arm (the one with the shield) came off and the Leopard formed into its arm configuration and attached on.

"Pantheon Megazord with Leopard Power!" the now eight Rangers announced. Dan was now next to Adrian as a fifth member of the back row.

The Megazord banged it's fists together before charging into battle. The Sphinx unfurled her wings and took off into the sky.

"Like that'll stop us!" Nate scoffed.

The Megazord unfurled its own wing and took off after it. It lashed out with its leopard tail, trying to wrap up the Sphinx again, but the Sphinx was too fast.

"I've got an idea!" Victor announced.

"Great, because I am really open to suggestions right now," Jay said, "what do you got, big guy?"

"Let me just show you!" Victor said, "firing Emblem Blast!"

Light shone down on the Raven-Emblem on the Megazord that was reflected at the Sphinx. With a button press, the light was focused into a laser beam in the shape of the emblem that then blasted at the Sphinx.

The Sphinx roared in pain before landing back in the city to examine the damage.

The Leopard arm lashed out and wrapped up the Sphinx, wings and all. To the surprise of the Sphinx, the tail wrapping her up detached from the Leopard, leaving both arms free to heft up the gladius.

The sun's rays reflected off of the Raven Emblem/Armor and struck the gladius that began to glow with the same light energy.

"Light of the Olympians!" the Rangers announced as the Pantheon Megazord came down in a strong two handed slash with the sword.

I just wanted to ask my riddles!" the Sphinx shouted with its final breath before exploding, with the Megazord posing in front of it.

"That's one less riddler these heroes have to face," Jay quipped as the Megazord powered down.

* * *

"So, you got your challenge," Valerie said as the Rangers walked through the Doors of Janus back into the Temple, "what did you think?"

"Definitely NOT what I yearned for," Mera admitted, "but, it was nice to outsmart a monster for once instead of simply overpowering it."

"Yeah, good thing we had Dan," Jay admitted, "we needed a secret weapon, and you proved to be exactly what we needed."

"Of course," Dan said, "not like you had many options, right?"

"It was between you and a Green Ranger who's a pacifist," Adrian explained.

"Oh, I need to hear this story," Dan said before Adrian began to tell the story. The teens all sat down besides Jay and Valerie. They walked over to the Armor.

"We did a good job today," Jay said as he admired the Armor.

"Yeah, because of you," Valerie said as she put a reaffirming hand on his shoulder.

There was a laugh from over where the other Rangers were and the two turned towards it.

"Want to hear how Nate turns himself into the hero of the story?" Valerie asked as she gestured towards the group and offered her hand.

"Oh, definitely," Jay said as he took her hand and the two walked over.

"So there I was, just me and Adrian against 50, no...60 Spartoi and Midas!" Nate said.

"Uh, Victor and I were there too, and it was just Midas, no Spartoi," Mera corrected as they all laughed.

"So where does the Green Ranger come in?" Dan asked.

'There's one riddle I need to solve,' Jay thought to himself as he looked away from the others, 'what is Hades planning?'

* * *

"I would give it another four weeks," Gryphon said as he bowed before his master's throne.

"Make it three," Hades ordered, "there's only so many monsters I can throw at the Rangers before they begin to question my true plan, and the Winter Solstice approaches. That's when I'll unleash my true plan!"

"What is your true plan, my lord?" Gryphon questioned.

"We're going to watch a mountain burn…" Hades said as he played the blue fire in his hand, "and a civilization fall," he finished as he snuffed it out with his hand.

**So, we're creeping up on the Mid-Season Finale, which does NOT mean a hiatus. Things should keep coming out at about the same speed, hopefully faster, and I don't plan on skipping a month like I did with Chapter 11 and 14. Look for each chapter to come out about the middle of the month (I aim for the 15th of the given month). And if you like what you're reading, follow the story and leave a review.**


	17. Listen for the Siren!

Hey guys. I have a lot of finals tomorrow, so here's the chapter a little earlier than expected. If you missed the edit I made last chapter, I added a line about Hades waiting for the Winter Solstice and that it will factor into his plan… As for what that plan is, stay tuned! As always, I want to thank JTWAS1994 for his continued support and NiaJax1987 for following the story.

Power Rangers Olympian Force Chapter 17: Listen for the Siren

It was the beginning of the second week of December, and the snow was beginning to pile up outside the little diner on the corner of 5th and Park Ave. The people inside didn't seem to notice, including Jay Parker and Valerie Onasis. That is, until they were exiting the diner.

"Man, we have to walk home in this?" Jay commented as he put a hand out to catch some snowflakes, "so glad I didn't drive. It would be a nightmare in all that snow."

"Yeah," Valerie said, "except you're wearing a practical coat. Mine may look good, but as for protection from the snow? Not so great."

"I can't offer my entire coat, but I can at least give you my scarf," Jay said as he pulled the long piece of cloth off his neck and wrapped it around Valerie's.

"And they say chivalry is dead," Valerie joked as the two began their walk in the below-freezing city streets, "it does seem a little odd. I've had cold winters in Olympia Hills, but never this cold."

Jay could only shiver in agreement.

After a long, and very cold, walk, they had reached the outer gate of Valerie's house. Valerie buzzed the intercom.

"James? Could you open the gate, please? It's freezing out here!" Valerie said into the intercom.

"Right away, Miss Valerie," James' voice said from the intercom, "and will your male friend be joining us this evening?"

The gate began to open as Jay replied.

"Nah," Jay said, "I've got some homework to do. See you tomorrow at school. If we have school."

"Thanks for another great night," Valerie said as she kissed Jay on the cheek, "and here's your scarf," she added as she handed it to him before running to her front door, which James was holding open for her.

Jay held his hand to his cheek and smiled before walking away into the night.

* * *

"A kiss on the cheek? Man, that's nothing," Nate said as he and Jay sat down at the lunch table. Valerie, Mera, Diana and Adrian weren't there yet, but Victor was at his usual seat.

"I mean, I think it's something," Jay said, "Victor, back me up here. If a girl kisses you on the cheek, that means you're advancing from a "person I go on dates with" thing to "boyfriend- girlfriend" thing, right?"

"Don't look at me," Victor replied, "I know nothing about relationships."

"Yeah, well...I think it means something," Jay reinforced.

"Mm hm," Nate said, clearly not convinced.

"I mean, I can't be the first Ranger who's faced this question," Jay said.

"No, but I'm sure you're the first one to think about it out loud," Nate commented, "weren't you the one warning us back when we faced the Dark Order that we be careful what we say in public. The baddies always turn it against us. I believe your exact words were 'It's practically a formula by now.'"

"Hello Nate, Victor and Jay," Mera said as she sat down, "what would be 'a formula by now'?"

"Nothing to worry about," Jay said as he brushed it off.

"Hey guys," Adrian said as he and Diana sat down.

"Hey," Jay said as he looked over towards where Valerie was getting her food.

Time seemed to slow down as she walked over towards the table, her hair flowing behind her like a river.

"Jay? Jay?" a voice said, "Earth to Jay. Come in, Jay."

"What?" Jay said, turning his head to look at whoever was talking.

"I asked you whether you were up for another sparring match today," Nate said, slightly exasperated at how out of it Jay had been, "I need to beat you this time!"

"Oh yeah?" Jay said, "I guess I could go another round with you."

"And I could use some archery practice," Adrian said as Valerie sat down.

"Agreed," Valerie said, "those Spartoi seem to be getting stronger somehow. They don't fall down as easily as they used to."

Mera nodded, "and Hades' monsters are getting more creative in their approach. We must be on guard at all times. Midas looked human, and the Sphinx could fly. Enemies could come from someone in a crowd, or the sky."

"So, stay on guard?" Victor asked.

"Not all the time," Jay clarified, "just when something doesn't seem right. You need to learn to rely on your instincts."

"Right, instincts," Victor repeated, "got it."

"I'll see you guys later," Jay said as he got up, "the bell's about to ring, and I've got class two wings away."

"See you later," Valerie said as she waved.

* * *

"So, the Red and Pink Rangers' relationship is growing," Hades commented as he looked at the image in his blue flame screen, "that could lead to weakness in their group."

"Relationships like that usually bring everyone involved strength, my lord," Persephone disagreed.

"Unless you can find a way to break that bond," Hades said as he grinned darkly, "I can break all of their bonds. But especially the Red and Pink Rangers'! I summon you, Parthenope!"

He reached into the brazier next to him and pulled out a ball of blue flame, which he threw at the wall to form a blue portal. Out stepped a beautiful woman. She had blonde hair that draped over her shoulders, and blue eyes that pierced whatever they looked at, as if searching for a weakness. She had on a white toga that showed off all of her curves. She looked about 30 in human years.

"Shall I sing you a song, my lord?" the woman asked.

"Oh, Parthenope, you know that as a god, your powers don't work on me," Hades said, "save your voice for the Red Ranger."

"Ooo! Fun!" she said, "shall I enrapture him with my voice, or my body?"

"Definitely your voice," Hades said, "he already has eyes for another, you must find a way to break the Red and Pink Rangers apart and bring the Red Ranger to your side."

"Do I get to keep him?" she asked pleadingly, "it's been so looong since I've had a mortal in my company."

"Bring me his Olympian Gems and he's yours," Hades said.

"Oh goodie!" Parthenope, "I can't wait to capture him in my Siren Song!"

"Do remember he is a teen," Hades reminded, "you may want to alter your appearance to better blend in"

Parthenope nodded as she began to glow before becoming about 15 years younger and altering her outfit to a low-cut white winter coat that acted as a dress.

"Let my concert begin!" she exclaimed as she leapt into the portal.

* * *

Nate grunted as he struggled in the arm lock Jay had gotten him into. He tried to move his arm, but only found himself more stuck. It was right after school, and only the two teens and their mentor were in the Temple at the moment.

"Urgh," Nate said as he tried to twist around, "can't a guy catch a break? Ok, you got me. Now let me go!"

"Stop complaining and get out of it," Jay responded as he struggled to keep Nate in the arm lock.

Nate struggled again for a minute before coming up with a plan.

"You know, Valerie said something about you after you left lunch," Nate said.

"Really? What did she say?" Jay said as he relaxed his grip a bit, distracted by the conversation.

"She said you're a sucker!" Nate said as he pulled his arm out of the arm lock and sweeping kicked Jay's legs out from under him, sending him falling to the ground.

"Hey, that's not fair!" Jay said as he slowly got up, "you distracted me!"

"Maybe if you didn't have Valerie on your brain all the time, it wouldn't be so easy," Nate retorted as he grabbed his water from the side of the mat before drinking some.

"I agree," Hermes said, "if you are distracted, you become vulnerable. Any weakness you show, Hades will be sure to exploit."

"You know what? I don't have to listen to this," Jay said angrily, "I think I'm done training for today."

Jay grabbed his stuff and stormed out past Diana and Valerie as they walked in.

"What's got Jay so wound up?" Diana asked, "being angry is my job."

"I just told Jay off for being so distracted lately, and he didn't take it well," Nate responded.

"What's been distracting him?" Valerie asked as Victor, Mera and Adrian came into the Temple.

"In all honesty?" Nate answered, "you."

"What?" Valerie asked, "what do you mean, me?"

"He's so obsessed with your opinion of him that even mentioning your name distracts him," Nate explained, "he had me in an arm hold and I easily beat him when I mentioned you."

"Emotional attachments can lead to strength," Hermes said, "but also to weakness. Jay just needs to find a way to only make it a strength."

"Perhaps it is because your relationship is in flux right now?" Mera suggested.

"Where did you get that idea fr...Victor!" Nate said, "you told Mera?"

"She asked," Victor said as he shrugged.

"Dude, you broke the Bro Code!" Nate shouted.

"The 'Bro Code'?" Diana asked, "seriously? What is that?"

"Things said in private by your Bros are never, ever told to anyone not in the group of Bros," Nate said, "it's totally a thing."

"As a fellow guy," Adrian said, "I can definitively say that the 'Bro Code' is not a thing."

"Well, now that you've wasted our time," Diana said, "Jay is long gone. We're not going to see him until tomorrow unless we go to his house."

"I'll go," Valerie said, "this is between the two of us. You guys should train. I'll be back, hopefully with Jay."

* * *

"I do not have Valerie on my brain all the time," Jay muttered as he walked through the snow-covered city. The pedestrians around him seemed to pay him no mind as they went through their normal routines.

"Hey!" a voice shouted from one of the alleys, "leave me alone!"

No one else seemed to notice, and Jay was in the mood to let out some of his anger, so he set off into the alley. He found some Spartoi attacking a young woman, about his age. She was against the wall, shivering in fear.

"Hey, buddy!" Jay shouted at one of the Spartoi, "you heard her! Leave her alone! You want a target, you got one. I'm right here!"

He dropped his backpack and launched into a flying kick that knocked one Spartoi's head into a dumpster. The other Spartoi looked at each other and retreated into the portal that appeared for them.

"That went...easier than expected," Jay said to himself, "they usually put up more of a fight."

"You saved me!" the girl said as she moved away from the wall and towards her savior.

"Not a problem," Jay said as he grabbed his bag and started walking away, "but I've got to get home now. Don't walk in any more dark alleys and you should be fine."

"But I think you deserve a reward for your good deed!" the girl said as she ran in front of him and blocked the way.

"A reward? No, no. Any good citizen would do what I did," Jay said as he brushed it off.

"I insist," the girl said, "my name's Penelope and I'm a singer. I thought I could give you a private performance real quick."

Jay seemed to pause for a second before finally giving in.

"I guess if you insist," he said, "where did you want to perform?"

"Right here is fine," Penelope said before she began to sing.

Jay was about to protest until he heard the song, and his eyes began to glaze over. Quickly, the light in his eyes disappeared.

Penelope stopped singing and smiled as she looked at the enchanted Red Ranger.

"Now, Red Ranger," Penelope said as she grabbed his hand, "why don't you take me to your house? You were going there anyway."

"My house?" Jay said, his voice distant.

"Oh, I hate this," Penelope said, "it happens everytime I enchant a man. You can't act like a zombie in front of people, I command you to act like how you normally would."

The light returned to Jay's eyes before he looked around.

"What happened?" he asked, "I must've spaced out for a moment."

"You were going to take me to your house so we could talk more," Penelope said.

"Yeah, of course," Jay said, "it's this way. Let's go."

* * *

Valerie walked up to Jay's front door and knocked. She was ready to knock again when Jay opened the door.

"Can I help….oh," he said, "it's you."

"What?" Valerie said, "what do you mean 'oh, it's you'?"

"Who's at the door?" a female voice asked. Valerie heard footsteps and was shocked to see a girl about their age at the door.

"W-what? Who's this?" Valerie asked demandingly.

"This is Penelope," Jay said as he put his arm around her, "she's my girlfriend."

A look of shock crossed Valerie's face again that quickly turned into one of anger, "girlfriend? I thought I was your girlfriend!"

"We went on a few dates, but you said to take it slow. Penelope has no such problems with having a strong relationship quickly," Jay explained.

"So you went with the easy choice over the real relationship that took months to build?" Valerie asked as tears welled up in her eyes, "I thought you were better than that."

She turned around and ran away, crying the whole time.

"Just ignore her," Penelope said to Jay as she closed the door.

"But...something seems wrong…" Jay said as his face wrinkled in concentration.

"Nothing's wrong, you just need another verse of my song" Penelope said as she began to sing again.

Jay's face slowly went back to a neutral expression as he heard the song before he looked at Penelope and smiled as she finished.

"What was I saying again?" Jay asked, slightly dazed from the power of Penelope's song.

"Nothing important," Penelope said, "now why don't we sit down and talk some more. I want to know all about your friends."

* * *

It was the next morning, and Jay was walking to school, earbuds in his ears. Nate came up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder.

"What's up?" Jay said as he removed one of the earbuds.

"What the hell did you do to Valerie?" Nate asked, clearly angry, "she went home crying, and won't even talk to us right now. We had to talk to James to figure out where she even went."

"She couldn't handle the fact I have a girlfriend now," Jay said, "I'm sorry she went home crying, but she needs to get over it eventually."

"Wow, and you guys say I'm a jerk," Nate said, "you're not even paying 100% attention to me. What are you listening to?"

"My new girlfriend, Penelope, is a singer, she put one of her songs on my phone for me," Jay explained, "she even suggested I share it with my guy friends. Fancy a listen?"

"This better be the best song ever or I'm still going to be pissed about what you did to Valerie," Nate said as he grabbed an earbud and started listening. Slowly the anger faded from his face and turned into a smile. His eyes glazed over for a second before changing back to normal.

"We've gotta get Victor and Adrian to listen to this," Nate said, "come on! I'm sure we can find them before first period!"

The two ran down the street, not noticing Penelope in a dark corner.

"That's two down," Penelope said as she grew older, revealing her to be Parthenope, "now I just need to get my slaves to entrance the other two."

She shifted back to Penelope and walked into a portal that appeared behind her. The portal closed behind her, leaving no trace she had ever been there.

* * *

"Man, I love this song," Adrian said as Victor, Nate and Jay nodded.

"I know, right?" Nate said.

"I agree," Victor said simply.

"I can get you guys a private performance," Jay said.

"Really?" the three other boys said together.

It was currently lunch on that Wednesday afternoon, and the guys were on one end of the table, listening to Penelope's music while Mera and Diana sat at the other end, talking about their concern for their other female friend and how the boys were on Jay's side.

"It is extremely odd," Mera said, "We talked to them yesterday, and Nate, Victor and Adrian were appalled at Jay's actions. Now they listen to one song and they are on his side of the conflict."

"I wouldn't call it a conflict, but yeah," Diana said, "seems very suspicious to me."

She turned to the guys and waved them over.

"Let me hear that!" she demanded as she grabbed the earbuds and took a listen.

"It's just noise," Diana said as she took off the earbuds and offered them to Mera, who then took a listen, "it has rhythm to it, but there's no words or anything, it's just her voice."

"Indeed," Mera said, "I need to do research, I have an idea on what's going on."

She got up and grabbed her bag.

"I will see you at training," she said, "meanwhile, do keep an eye on the boys. Something is not right here."

"Aw, don't leave me with the fanboys of crappy music," Diana said, "I'll have no one to talk to but them."

"I promise this should make sense by training time," Mera said as she walked out of the room and down the stairs from the roof.

"So, want to talk about something besides the music?" Diana offered.

"Nope!" the four boys said as they listened to the song again for what seemed like the 500th time.

* * *

Valerie was face-down on her bed, crying again.

"Miss Valerie?" James said as he knocked on the door.

"What?" Valerie said, her tears subsiding again, as she turned around, got up and opened the door.

"There is a telephone call for you," he said simply as he offered the pink phone to her, "I thought you should know that it is your friend Miss Merrida."

Valerie grabbed the phone and put it to her ear, "hello?...Really?...You're sure?...Be right there. Open a Door for me in a minute... Yeah, the front doors will work"

She hung up and handed the phone back to James before wiping the stray tears from her eyes.

"I need to go out for something," she said, "I'll be back when I can. If my parents ask, I'm catching up on what I missed at school today."

"Of course, Miss Valerie," James said as he left down the hallway, "I shall grab you your coat."

After James came back with her coat, Valerie headed down the stairs and towards the double doors that led to the outside. She looked around quickly to make sure no one was watching and watched as the doors glowed blue and opened on their own to reveal the Temple. Valerie stepped through and the doors slammed shut behind her.

In the Temple, the boys were in one corner, while Diana and Mera were at the mosaic computer, with Mera rapidly typing away on it and Hermes above them, watching their progress.

"So you think you know what's going on?" Valerie asked as she walked over to the other girls.

"I believe it is the work of a Siren," Mera said, "legends tell of Sirens on an island with such beautiful voices that it led men to hurl themselves from their passing ships into the sea, where they either drowned or were killed by the Sirens themselves. However, the Siren had to keep singing to control the men. This one seems to be able to keep a hold over the guys with repeated exposure to the song."

"I thought I could come up with a counter-song," Mera said as she swiveled around in the chair to face the remaining girls, "but music is not my expertise. The best way to free the guys is to destroy the Siren controlling them."

"And I'm willing to bet money on who that Siren is," Diana said as she pounded her fist into her palm.

"Penelope," Valerie finished, "I knew she was trouble!"

"I think the Siren was trying to hide the fact that they're being controlled, but wasn't counting on us figuring it out," Diana said, "so let's find her and clobber her!"

"Stole the words right out of my mouth!" Valerie agreed, "but how do we find her?"

"I don't think that will be a problem," Hermes said as he lowered himself to the ground and pointed at the screen.

On the mosaic screen was Penelope leading a force of Spartoi to attack the city.

The boys got up as one and walked towards the Doors, with the girls right behind them. The Doors opened on their own and the teens stepped out into the city.

The boys hurried over to Penelope's side and the girls faced them, opposing the boys, Spartoi and Penelope herself.

"If it isn't the Olympian Rangers!" Penelope said, "you seem to be missing some members of your team."

"More like you stole them!" Valerie shouted back, "now give them back to us before we make you!"

"What if I could offer you your precious Red Ranger in exchange for, say, your Olympian Gems?" Penelope offered.

"I would say that you're out of your mind!" Valerie shouted back, "all we have to do is destroy you and we get him back anyway!"

"That's if you can destroy me," Penelope said, "and how can you do that when you'll be so busy fighting the friends you're trying to save? Boys? Destroy them and bring me their Olympian Gems!"

Penelope sang a short verse of her song, and the boys morphed in an instant before drawing their weapons and charging.

"Ready?" Valerie said as she prepped her morphers.

"Ready!" Mera and Diana said.

"Silver Olympian Power!"

"Pink Olympian Power!"

"Yellow Olympian Power!"

In a flash of light, the female Rangers morphed and back flipped away from the first wave of attacks. They summoned their weapons in response, and prepared to clash.

Diana aimed her bow at the same time her brother did before they both released at the same time.

"Man, our arrows keep being equal in power," she said as their arrows once again clashed and destroyed each other.

"I would just give up while you're behind, sis," Adrian said as they both noked another energy arrow before firing again with the same result.

"Yeah, you know that I never give up," Diana said, "and my brother would never try to convince me to!"

She changed her bow into the Hunting Daggers and ran forward, slicing the next energy arrow vertically through the middle so it split and hit a car behind her instead. She slid under the next one before flipping over a third. She kicked the bow from Adrian's hands before sending her daggers to the pocket dimension and pinning her brother down.

"I really don't want to fight you" Diana said, "but if that's what I have to do to free you, I will."

"You couldn't beat me on your best day," Adrian said as he forced Diana into a roll that knocked her off.

The twin Rangers prepared for round two.

Mera blocked Nate's Ocean Trident jabs with the body of her Battle Spear before Victor came in with a Blacksmith Hammer Slam right on the body of the spear. Mera grimaced under her helmet as she felt the integrity of her weapon begin to fail and a big horizontal crack grew in the middle of her spear. She rolled out of the way of another hammer strike before using her spear's body to swipe out Victor's legs from under him. She stabbed her spear through Nate's trident's teeth and jabbed him in the helmet, knocking him to the ground. She ran off in Jay and Valerie's direction instead of towards her two prone opponents.

Jay swung his Lightning Sword again, trying to knock Valerie's bow out of her hands, but she blocked with the sturdy metal body of her Love Bow. Valerie tried to kick the sword out of Jay's hand, but he moved his hand at the last minute. She cartwheeled backwards and shot an energy arrow from her bow, striking Jay in the gut, causing him to drop his sword and double over in pain.

"Sorry!" Valerie said as she walked forward to check the damage. It turned out to be a ploy on Jay's part, as he rolled, grabbed his sword and slashed Valerie in the side, causing sparks to fly. Valerie flew into a wall before landing on the ground. She groaned as she rolled onto her stomach and tried to get up.

"Give it up, Valerie," Jay said as he leveled his sword at Valerie's helmet, "you can't beat me in hand to hand combat."

"Trust me, I don't want to beat you," Valerie said, "and I don't have to."

"What do you- hey!" Jay shouted as Mera grabbed him and pinned his arms behind his back in such a way that he was forced to drop his sword, "let me go!"

"I am doing this as your best friend," Mera said, "and I believe that it is for your own good."

"Jay, I don't want to hurt you," Valerie said as she demorphed, "and I know you won't hurt me. Mera, let him go."

"Excuse me?" Mera asked, "he is clearly still under the Siren's control. He will not hesitate to kill you as she commanded."

"No, Jay could never hurt me," Valerie insisted, "let him go."

"If you insist," Mera said as she let go.

Jay immediately grabbed his sword again and leveled it over Valerie's head.

"Your compassion will be your downfall!" Jay shouted as he brought his sword down.

Valerie shut her eyes and silently prayed her plan would work. In a few moments, she opened her eyes and looked up. Jay's sword was inches from her head, and his arms were trembling as they seemed to fight themselves.

"No!" Jay shouted as he dropped his sword next to Valerie, "I won't hurt her!"

He demorphed and fell to his knees, clutching his head.

"Get out of my head!" he shouted. Valerie got up and walked over before kneeling down in front of Jay.

"Jay, you have to fight her," she urged.

"Jay, destroy her!" Penelope shouted before singing again.

Jay looked up as Valerie, tears in his eyes.

"She's too strong," he said, "I can't hold her back for long. You need to get out of here before she makes me do something I'll regret."

"I'm not leaving you," Valerie said as she put her hand on Jay's cheek, "you wouldn't leave me."

She slowly went in for a tender kiss, which Jay slowly reciprocated.

"NO!" Penelope shouted as she felt her power over Jay shatter. She looked over at the Spartoi all around her and Nate, Victor and Adrian.

"If I can't control Jay, I'll destroy him along with you female Rangers!" she shouted, clearly angry about the loss of her slave, "attack!"

Jay and Valerie broke off their kiss and smiled at each other before getting up as one and joining up with the morphed Mera and Diana.

"I think it's time we took down this Siren," Jay said as he prepped his morphers, "ready?"

Valerie nodded.

"Always," she said.

"Pink Olympian Power!"

"Red Olympian Power!"

In a flash of light, the two were morphed and, joined up with Mera and Diana, prepared to face off against their fellow Rangers again.

"I need you girls to keep the guys distracted while I go for Penelope," Jay ordered, "if I destroy her, we won't have to fight our fellow Rangers anymore."

"Right!" the three female Rangers agreed.

"Hunting Daggers!"

"Love Bow!"

"Battle Spear!"

"Lightning Sword!"

The four Rangers summoned their weapons and prepared for battle.

Jay leapt over Nate as Nate tried to stab him with his Trident. Jay slashed Nate in the back with his sword before Nate whirled around, using the momentum of his turn to smack Jay with the trident. Jay went flying over closer to Penelope. He looked up to see all of the Spartoi stand around him, looking down to see if he was weakened.

"Any chance this could be as easy as last time?" Jay asked.

The Spartoi didn't answer. They just got into fighting stances.

"Didn't think so," Jay said as he got up and raised his sword, "Lightning Sword! Lightning Refraction!"

A bolt of red lightning struck Jay's sword , piercing the bolt and splitting it, causing the smaller lightning bolts to strike the Spartoi and knock them over.

"And now for your boss!" Jay shouted as he took off in a dash towards Penelope. Adrian moved to block his path, but Valerie took him out with a well placed energy arrow. Victor moved in to protect Penelope as well, but Diana flipped in the air and struck him with her daggers, causing him to bowl over.

Nate was about to get up to help his fellow mind-controlled Rangers, but Mera put the bottom of the handle of her spear on his chest, holding him down.

"Jay, do it!" Mera shouted.

"No! Someone, protect me!" Penelope shouted in fear as she looked for anyone to save her.

"Your puppets can't help you now!" Jay shouted, "Red Lightning Strike!"

A bolt of red lightning surged down and struck Jay's sword again right as he was slashing Penelope, causing her to fly back and change back into Parthenope. She struggled to rise as Valerie ran up to join Jay.

"Let's take her down together!" she suggested as she offered out her hand for the Lightning Sword.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Jay said as he handed his sword to her. He turned to Parthenope.

"This is the strength of our bond!" he shouted.

"Lightning Arrow…" the two said together as Valerie took aim, "fire!"

The sword flew right into Parthenope's stomach, causing her to fall over.

"I just wanted to sing my song!" she shouted as she exploded into a pile of ash with Jay and Valerie posing in front of her.

Jay and Valerie hugged as the other male Rangers came to from their trance and demorphed.

"What happened?" Victor asked.

"Where are we?" Adrian asked.

"How cliche can we sound?" Nate asked sarcastically as Mera let him up, "seriously, we were aware the whole time. We just couldn't control ourselves. Sheesh."

"He's not wrong," Jay said as he and Valerie came over, hand in hand and demorphed, "we knew what we were doing. We just had no choice."

"So, let me guess, your bond is even stronger now?" Nate asked sarcastically.

Jay and Valerie looked at each other and then back at Nate.

"Yeah," they said together.

"Now come on," Jay said, "we've got to get back to base."

* * *

"I'm glad to see everyone is in one piece," Hermes said as the teens walked in through the Doors of Janus, "I was afraid one half of the team was going to destroy the other."

"With the bonds we have," Jay said, "I don't think that's possible."

The others nodded or gave verbal agreement.

"It feels like Hades is just hurling monsters at us now," Adrian said, "no real rhyme or reason to his attacks."

"Yeah," Jay said, "if she wanted our Olympian Gems, she could have made us hand them over to her."

"It's almost like…" Victor started.

"He does not want them," Mera finished, "It was a ploy the whole time. Hades has no need for the Olympian Gems. He has some greater scheme in mind."

"What could be greater than the power of the gods?" Victor asked.

"Maybe that is what he wants," Valerie said, 'the question isn't what he wants. He wants to rule the Earth using the power of the Olympians. It's how he plans to achieve it."

"Then it's time," Hermes said.

"Time for what?" Jay asked.

"Time for you to know the truth about the Olympians and your powers," Hermes said as he floated over to the computer, "I haven't been your true mentor…"

He pressed a button hidden under the keyboard and the mosaic stones twisted and turned to reveal...

Twelve thrones in a half-circle appeared on the screen. In each throne was a huge being that looked human, but possessed an aura of great power.

"...They have," Hermes finished, "I'd like you to meet the Olympians."

"Rangers," the white haired one in the middle said, "we have much to discuss."

Questions? Comments? You know the deal. Leave a review, and stay tuned for next month's installment in the Olympian Rangers' story.


	18. Steeled Resolve

**I just want to remind people that this is rated T. So cursing, while rare, may occur in this story. Just don't want anyone to be alarmed by characters dropping curse words.**

**I want to thank JTWAS1994 for his continued support, DaughterOfSBWG for favoriting the story and you, the readers for following the story so far. None of this would be possible without the support of each and every person reading. Anyway, enough sappy talk, let's see how this plot twist resolves...**

**Power Rangers Olympian Force Chapter 18: Steeled Resolve**

"I'm sorry, but what!?" Nate said as he looked at the screen then back to Hermes and then back at the screen again.

"I'm going to have to agree with Nate here," Jay said, "you told us the Olympians didn't exist anymore. That the belief in them died and so they did too."

"That was a necessary lie, my successor," the white-haired and bearded god Zeus said.

"Oh, I want to hear this," Valerie said, "what possible reason could you have to hide your continued existence from us?"

The beautiful blonde goddess Aphrodite was the next to respond.

"If you knew we still could fight Hades, you might have not become Rangers in the first place," she explained, "we needed the 5 Rangers of Prophecy to join us of their own free will."

"5 Rangers of Prophecy?" Mera asked, "please explain further."

"I can answer that," Adrian said, "I foresaw that you five, Jay, Mera, Nate, Victor and Valerie, will be the ones to defeat Hades."

"And I foresaw the same thing," Apollo, a golden haired god with a laurel crown on his head, said, "you do draw your powers from me, after all."

"What makes us the 5 Rangers of Prophecy? Or even Rangers at all?" Jay asked.

"All of the Rangers possess part of a god's power within their blood," Zeus explained, "it has been passed down to you from us. That is why the Olympian Gems chose you in the first place."

"One problem with that," Valerie said, "I have parents, and neither of them are gods."

"I never said directly passed down," Zeus corrected, "you are all descended from demigods, who are themselves descended from us."

"Demigods," Jay repeated, "how far back are these demigods in our family trees?"

"Over two thousand years," Zeus said, "the godly part of your heritage is weak, diluted over the generations, but it is there."

"So say we're these descendants of demigods and these '5 Rangers of Prophecy' to boot," Nate said, "why haven't you been helping us along the way? The battles would be way easier with the gods by our side."

"We have been there," the long white haired and bearded Poseidon said, "you may not have recognized us, but we were there."

In a flash, Zeus, Poseidon, Hephestus, Athena, Aphrodite and Artemis transformed into…

"The mechanic you guys found when trying to help me with my father?" Victor asked.

"The woman I met at the party?" Valerie asked.

"And gave us our Olympian Gems," Adrian added.

"The woman I met at the library?" Mera asked.

"The old man I found in the abandoned yard when I quit," Jay stated, "of course it was you."

"Who the heck are you?" Nate asked, "wait, you're that old man I met down at the pier!"

"And you're the girl I met in the woods," Diana said, "that makes sense now."

The gods and goddesses shifted back to their true forms.

"As you can see, we've been there when you needed guidance," Zeus said, "and Hermes was always keeping an eye on you for us."

"Then why reveal yourselves now?" Valerie asked.

"Because you figured out what Hades wants, and we need you to protect us," Aphrodite said.

"So basically, it's your survival on the line now," Diana said, "makes sense. When it's your lives on the line, you want us to help you, but when we needed your strength…"

"Watch your tongue, girl," Zeus said as he raised his voice to become as booming as a thunderstorm, "do not judge us by your standards. Without us, the sun would not rise or set. Plants would wither and die and food would become scarce. Creatures of all kinds would perish. And that is not even including what Hades would do if we were gone, those are just the consequences of our deaths."

"OK, point taken," Adrian said as he pushed the protesting Diana away from the view of the screen, "don't piss off the gods who could kill us with a thought, OK, sis?"

"So, we know now," Jay said, "now what? How do we protect you from Hades?"

"When the time comes, we will call and you must come to Olympus. Until then, fight off Hades' monsters like you have been doing," Zeus said, his voice now back to normal, "Hermes, keep an eye on them. Rangers, we will speak again soon."

With that, the stones turned back to a blank screen.

"Well, that was interesting," Valerie said, "I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow. Jay, care to walk me home?"

"Of course," Jay said as he grabbed his and Valerie's bags, "see you guys! Geez, Val, what did you put in here? Rocks?"

* * *

"Talking to the gods and finding out we're descended from demigods," Jay said as he and Valerie sat down together at the lunch table holding hands, "wow."

"It makes me question if we're technically related," Valerie said.

"You are, but technically, everyone is related if you go back far enough." Mera clarified as she sat down.

"Ok, so it won't be like I'm dating my cousin," Jay said, "that makes me feel a lot better."

"Me too," Valerie said as she gave Jay's hand a squeeze before letting go, "I wouldn't want this relationship to die so quickly."

"Ugh, gag me," Nate said as he sat down, "we get it, you two like each other. Get a room."

"Man, someone woke up on the cynical side of bed this morning," Jay retorted.

"Getting back on topic," Valerie said, ever the peacemaker, "we're descended from Demigods. That makes us, like what. 1% god?"

"I suppose," Mera said, "it really depends on how far back we are talking. Over 2000 years? That number is not as random as it sounds. I could do a blood test…"

"Boring!" Nate said rudely, "are we just going to talk science and math the whole time? Lunch used to be my favorite subject. Now, I'm not so sure with all of this technical talk."

"Fine, what do you want to talk about?" Jay asked.

"I wanted to ask Victor here," Nate said as he put his arm around Victor's neck, "about those laser blades I talked about a few weeks ago."

"This should be good," Jay said to himself as Nate kept begging Victor for his dream weapon.

* * *

"The gods have spoken to the Rangers?" Hades asked himself as he watched the Rangers through his blue flame screen, "this could prove...troublesome. Gryphon! How is the Spartoi army going?"

"My lord," Gryphon said as he stepped out of the shadows, "the Spartoi army grows every minute. We shall be at the ordered size by the Winter Solstice, just as you commanded."

"Good," Hades said, "now I need the Rangers out of the way in order to gain the gods' power."

"Might I suggest the power of the Nemean Lion?" Gryphon suggested, "it's impenetrable skin would prove a serious problem for the Rangers."

"Yes, yes!" Hades said as he reached into the brazier and pulled out a ball of blue flame, "that will be perfect! Nemean Lion! I summon you to destroy my foes!"

He hurled the ball at the black stone block wall and it opened a portal. Out of said portal leapt a large bipedal lion. It was the size of a tall man, and had tan fur and a brown mane.

"Ready to tear my enemies to shreds!" it roared.

"Destroy the Rangers!" Hades ordered, "and don't come back until you have!"

"As you command!" the Nemean Lion shouted before turning around and leaping back into the portal, now set for Olympia Hills.

* * *

"Alright guys, I think we should try some sparring today," Jay said as he gathered the other teens around him, "let's try...Valerie and Diana, Adrian and Mera, and Victor and Nate."

"I'm sorry, you want me to fight Victor?" Nate asked, "the guy can barely throw a punch outside his Ranger form, much less keep up with me."

Victor just remained silent and looked at the ground.

"Why don't we find out right now?" Jay asked, "Rangers ready? Fight!"

The pairs of Rangers faced off against each other. With a cry, Valerie and Diana charged and kicked at the same time, their legs clashing against each other.

At the same time, Adrian threw a punch and Mera blocked it before coming in for a counter-strike.

Meanwhile, Nate advanced and struck Victor, hitting him right in the face and sending him falling onto the mat.

"Dude, you've gotta block," Nate said as Jay came over.

"You ok, Victor?" Jay asked as he helped Victor stand up.

Victor nodded in response.

"Ok, good," Jay said, "now go get 'em!"

Victor slowly advanced forward and threw a weak and slow punch that Nate easily dodged before kneeing Victor in the gut. Victor once again fell onto the mat.

"I told you he can't fight," Nate said as he relaxed his stance, "you might want to give him a new opponent. I almost feel bad kicking his butt."

"Victor, what's going on?" Jay asked as he helped Victor up again, "you fight fine in your suit. Why can't you fight outside it?"

Victor shrugged.

"Yeah, I'm going to need a lot better than a...now what?" Jay said as the alarm went off.

"What are we looking at?" Valerie asked as the Rangers gathered around the mosaic computer.

"Looks like some form of the Panthera leo," Mera commented.

"The what?" Nate asked.

"She means a lion," Jay said, "a really tall, really angry looking two-legged lion."

"Great…" Nate said, "I kind of liked it better when I didn't know what she meant."

"Well, time to get to work," Jay commented as the teens attached their morphers to their wrists and crossed their arms over their chests, "it's morphing time!"

"Silver Olympian Power!"

"Gold Olympian Power!"

"Pink Olympian Power!"

"Yellow Olympian Power!"

"Black Olympian Power!"

"Blue Olympian Power!"

"Red Olympian Power!"

The Rangers, now fully morphed, turned as one and ran out the Doors of Janus that opened for them, taking them into the city.

* * *

** The Rangers ran down the street to confront the Nemean Lion and his army of Spartoi. They stopped about a football field away from them.**

"Rangers!" the Nemean Lion said, "my master Hades has ordered me to destroy you! Prepare for battle!"

"We're prepared alright!" Jay responded, "Let's tell him who he's dealing with!"

"Apollo, god of healing! Gold Olympian Ranger!"

"Artemis, goddess of the hunt! Silver Olympian Ranger!"

"Aphrodite, goddess of love! Pink Olympian Ranger!"

"Athena, goddess of wisdom! Yellow Olympian Ranger!"

"Hephaestus, god of the forge! Black Olympian Ranger!"

"Poseidon, god of the sea! Blue Olympian Ranger!"

"Zeus, god of lightning! Red Olympian Ranger!"

"Using the powers of the past to protect the future! Power Rangers Olympian Force!"

The Rangers then summoned their weapons.

"Sun Staff!"

"Hunting Daggers!"  
"Love Bow!"

"Battle Spear!"

"Blacksmith Hammer!"

"Ocean Trident!"

"Lightning Sword!"

"Let's go, guys!" Jay shouted as he led the Rangers into battle.

"Spartoi, destroy them!" the Nemean Lion ordered. The Spartoi charged forward as ordered.

"Man, I'm getting sick of Spartoi!" Nate said as he stabbed a Spartoi in the ribs before lifting him using the trident and slamming it into the ground.

"I agree," Mera said as she hurled her spear through three Spartoi before grabbing it and whirling it around her head to ward off another wave, "their effectiveness must be called into question for Hades' army."

Victor slammed his hammer into a Spartoi's head with enough force to actually force it into the ground, with the pavement cracking from the Spartoi now trapped in it.

"What does that even mean?" he asked as he bashed another Spartoi.

"It means we're clobbering them really easily," Valerie answered as she shot a few energy arrows into the Spartois' heads, "and Mera's wondering what the point is."

"My guess?" Adrian said as he flipped over a Spartoi before smacking it in the back of it's bony leg with his staff, sending it tumbling to the ground, "it's just to exhaust us so the main monster can destroy us."

"Less talking, more fighting!" Diana shouted as she hacked and slashed through Spartoi left and right.

"So, who are you supposed to be?" Jay asked as he went in for a slash to the abdomen with his Lightning Sword, "the Sphinx's weaker cousin without the riddle gimmick?"

"Laugh while you can, Ranger," the Nemean Lion said as the sword bounced off it's chest, "because you won't be laughing soon enough!"

Jay rapidly slashed across the Lion's torso, but each time it just bounced off it's steel-like skin.

The Nemean Lion unleashed it's claws and slashed an "X" over the Red Ranger's chest, sending him flying. The other Rangers ran up to meet their fallen leader, with the Spartoi all but bits of dust on the battlefield.

"You OK, Jay?" Adrian asked as he and Victor pulled him up from the ground.  
"Yeah, but we might have a problem," Jay said, "his skin is even tougher than Scylla's. I don't know if we're going to be able to get past it."

"We have to try!" Valerie argued.

"I never said we shouldn't try," Jay said, "let's attack with everything we've got!"

"Right!" the other Rangers shouted in agreement.

Nate came in with a trident stab to the face, but the teeth just bent around the Nemean Lion's face.

Mera struck with her spear, but the spear head bent as well.

"He's just destroying our weapons!" Mera said.

"We have to try a new tactic," Jay ordered, "Valerie, Diana, Adrian. Try your bows!"

Diana and Adrian transformed their weapons to their bow modes and joined Valerie in a line.

"Ready…" the three Rangers announced as they drew back the bowstring, "fire!"

A pink energy arrow, a silver energy arrow and a gold energy arrow all flew at the Nemean Lion, but he just braced his arms and deflected them back at the Rangers. The Rangers cried out as sparks flew from their suits. They fell to the ground before quickly rising again.

"Let's try the Omega Olympian Crossbow!" Jay ordered as the Rangers formed their upgraded weapon. It wobbled slightly from the damage the teeth from the trident that served as the base had taken, but it was quickly corrected.

"Seven Ranger Omega Strike, charged!" the Rangers announced as they took their positions, the girls on the left side of Jay and the other guys on the right.

"Fire!" Jay announced as he pulled the trigger.

The Lightning Sword and Hunting Daggers flew out and tried to create a glowing Omega Symbol on the Nemean Lion, but the weapons just bent on contact with the Lion's skin, rendering the attack useless.

The Rangers separated their weapons and looked at the damaged Lightning Sword, Hunting Daggers, Ocean Trident and Battle Spear.

"Yeah, we're going to need to call a time-out," Jay said as the Rangers slowly turned and retreated.

"Cowardly Rangers!" the Nemean Lion shouted at the retreating Rangers.

* * *

"Damn it!" Nate shouted as he slammed his fist on one of the marble pillars, "we turned and ran like cowards!"

"We didn't have a way to beat him," Jay reminded, "if we didn't retreat, he might have destroyed us."

"Piercing weapons had no effect," Mera commented, "we never tried a blunt force, like Victor's Blacksmith Hammer, however."

"It says here in our database that Hercules had to strangle it to defeat it," Adrian said as he pulled up the information on the mosaic screen.

"That seems extra violent," Valerie commented.

"Hey, if that's what we need to do, then I'm up for it," Diana said as she cracked her knuckles.

"What do you think, Victor?" Jay prompted.

"I think…" Victor said as he thought for a minute, "that I have a lot to work to do."

He gestured to the four broken weapons.

"I have to fix all of these," he said, "it could take a while."

"How long are we talking about?" Jay asked.

"At most? Twelve to sixteen hours ," Victor answered.

"In the meantime, we need a plan in case we run into the Lion again," Jay said as he turned to look at his fellow Rangers, "any suggestions?"

"I think Victor's hammer may be the key," Mera said, "blunt force at a vital point could prove most effective."

"We have to wait until the Lion appears again to try," Jay said, "he seems to have teleported away after a few minutes of us retreating."

"Well, Hades does want us dead," Valerie said, "there's no point in attacking the city if we're not going to fight back."

"Alright, Victor, get repairing," Jay ordered, "everyone else, let's talk about potential strategies, just in case the blunt force idea doesn't work."

Victor grabbed the Lightning Sword and his forging hammer.

'I hope I can do this,' he thought to himself as he lit the forge, 'the others are counting on me now, and in the upcoming battle.'

The other Rangers gathered around the mosaic computer as Victor set off to work.

* * *

It was the next day before school, and the snow was slowly melting as Jay walked up to Victor.

"Hey big gu...whoa!" he said as he looked at the bags under Victor's eyes, "you don't look too good, Victor. Did you get any sleep last night?"

"Not really," Victor said, "I left out the part where I had to work most of the night to reach that twelve to sixteen hour deadline."

"You didn't have to do that to yourself," Jay said, "we could have managed without the weapons if it meant you got some sleep."

"I have Study Hall first period," Victor said, "I can sleep in that. The important thing is that I fixed all the broken weapons. We're back up to full strength now."

The five minute bell rang and the two started walking towards the school building.

"That's good, and all," Jay said as they entered the hall, "but you really didn't have to torture yourself to help all of us."

"You know I don't talk about my feelings often," Victor said, "and it might be the exhaustion talking, but I just feel so useless most of the time and this was my one chance to really help the team in the best way I can, you know?"

"Nobody on the team is useless," Jay said, "and we rely on you lots of times on the battlefield. This isn't the first time we've needed you, and it won't be the last. You'll always be a key member of the team, whether you feel it or not."  
"Thanks, Jay," Victor said as he stopped next to a classroom, "that really made me feel better. I'll see you at lunch, ok?"

Jay continued walking down the hall as Victor entered the classroom.

'That's probably the most I heard him talk,' Jay thought, 'but it was a good conversation. I need to make sure no one ever feels useless. It's my duty as team leader.'

"Somebody looks like they're deep in thought again," Valerie said as she caught up with Jay, "everything good?"

"Everything's fine, Val," Jay said as he stopped in front of a classroom as well, "I'll see you at lunch."

* * *

"Victor stayed up all night?" Valerie asked as she and Jay sat down at the table together.

"Yeah, he stayed from whenever we left to about 4 in the morning," Jay answered, "he said he feels useless most of the time, and this was his big chance."

"You of course told him that wasn't true," Valerie said.

"Of course," Jay agreed, "changing subjects, we didn't come up with many new strategies last night, did we?"

"Unless you call Diana's idea of cutting off it's head and sticking it where the sun doesn't shine a strategy, no" Valerie said as Nate said down.

"Hey, I seconded that idea!" Nate said, somewhat offended.

"We can't pierce it's skin, remember?" Jay said, "how would we be able to cut its head off?"

"I don't know, but it's a good idea for when we figure that out," Nate said as he took a sip of his soda.

"The point was to figure that out!" Jay said, slightly annoyed.

"I believe I have a solution!" Mera said as she sat down at the table, with the rest of the teens joining right after her.

"You figured it out?" Jay asked.

"Yes," Mera said, "Hercules used the Nemean Lion's own claws to create a pelt out of the Lion's skin. If we can remove a nail from it's claw, we should be able to hurt it!"

"So how do we remove a nail?" Adrian asked.

"Leave that to me," Jay said, "I think I know what to do, and Victor? We're definitely going to need your hammer to do it."

* * *

"Rangers! Come out from your hiding place and fight me!" the Nemean Lion said as it led a group of Spartoi down the street.

"You want us?" Nate shouted as the seven Rangers ran up and stood in a line, blocking the monster and minions' way, "you got us!"

"And we're ready this time!" Jay said as the Rangers crossed their arms in front of their chests, "it's morphing time!"

"Silver Olympian Power!"

"Gold Olympian Power!"

"Pink Olympian Power!"

"Yellow Olympian Power!"

"Black Olympian Power!"

"Blue Olympian Power!"

"Red Olympian Power!"

In a flash of multi-colored light, the Rangers summoned their repaired weapons and stepped forward to face their foes.

"Follow the plan!" Jay ordered as the Rangers charged forward.

Jay and Victor ran to fight off the Nemean Lion, while the others dealt with the Spartoi.

Valerie sidekicked a Spartoi away before sniping it with an arrow and turning to the next Spartoi.

Nate leapt into the air and brought his trident down on a Spartoi, stabbing it right where it's eyes would be. He used the leverage to pry the Spartoi's head off and kicked it like a soccer ball into a few Spartoi clustered together, knocking them all down.

Adrian and Mera stood back to back, the Spartoi closing in. They both looked back and nodded at each other before bringing their long weapons to the ground and spinning in a circle together, knocking every Spartoi off its feet.

Diana stabbed both her daggers into a Spartoi before using the handholds they created to rip the Spartoi in half and flinging both halves at small groups of Spartoi, knocking them down and out of the fight.

Jay did a flying kick into the Lion's face before flipping back and allowing Victor to come in with a mighty power swing with his Blacksmith Hammer to the Lion's head. The Lion looked dazed as it wobbled around a bit.

"Just as I predicted!" Mera said as she kicked a Spartoi away, "the skin might be impenetrable, but the internal organs and other internal parts of the body are still vulnerable! I figured it out when Hercules was able to strangle the Lion originally. That meant that the inside of the Nemean Lion is not as tough as the outside!"

"Now, let's get one of these claws off," Jay said as he grabbed the Lion's paw with one hand and summoned his Lightning Sword with the other. Jay lowered his sword like he was cutting a vegetable before drawing it back again. With a cry, Jay brought his sword down on the claw, cutting it clean off the Lion's paw.

The Nemean Lion screamed in pain as it regained it's bearings.

"You'll pay for that!" it shouted as it slowly backed away from the Rangers.

"I think you're the one who's going to pay!" Jay said as the original five Rangers created the normal Olympian Crossbow. However, instead of the Lightning Sword as the ammo, the Nemean Lion's claw was used.

Jay looked to Victor.

"Would you like to do the honors?" Jay asked as he gestured to the Crossbow.

"It would be my honor," Victor said as the five Rangers took their positions, but with Victor firing and Jay supporting it. Adrian and Diana grabbed the arms of the Lion as the other Rangers took aim.

"Ready…" Victor said as he began to pull the trigger, "aim...fire!"

With that, he pulled the trigger, and the claw was fired at the Lion. It struggled against the two Rangers holding it, but wasn't strong enough to break free. The claw flew right through it's chest and into the building behind it.

"Guess none of you like Leos!" the Lion shouted as it fell to its knees before exploding into fire and ash, with Diana and Adrian rolling away from the explosion.

Suddenly, the remains of the Nemean Lion glowed blue before piecing back together. The Lion roared as he grew to the size of a small skyscraper.

"Hermes, it's Zord time," Jay ordered through his morpher.

"On their way," Hermes replied as he clicked a few keys on the mosaic computer.

With a screech, the red Eagle Zord swooped down from the clouds with the Fish Zord in its talons. The Owl Zord and Raven Zord were right behind it.

The Horse galloped onto the empty street, with the Deer Zord and Bull Zord racing to keep up.

The Rangers leapt into their Zords.

"Time to bring them together!" Jay ordered as he pressed the correct button, "form Pantheon Megazord!"

"Right!" the other Rangers said as they pressed the corresponding button.

The Bull Zord was the first to change, as the head came off, the body split apart and the legs flipped around 180ᣞ and the front and back legs combined.

The Horse Zord was next, as it's head went into a chest cavity while the front and back legs combined together and connected to the Bull Zord legs, forming a complete waist, legs and feet.

The Eagle Zord was next. As its wings clipped off together in one long arc-shaped piece and it's legs slid into its body before it connected to the Horse Zord, it was now forming the entire body of the combination.

Next came the Owl Zord. As its head detached from the body and the body detached from the wings, the wings clipped onto the sides of the Eagle Zord and expanded, forming the arms.

Fifth was the Fish Zord. As the entire dorsal fin and tail came off, it popped open completely in half before coming onto the Eagle Zord's body as a chestplate and combining together again. The tail folded into a plume that went onto the Eagle Zord's head to complete the helmet look. The horns from the Bull Zord head attached together and became a straight point before combining with the dorsal fin to create a large spear that went onto the Megazord's back. The Owl Zord body lengthened itself a bit before the head slid into a hole in the center, finishing the shield, which went on the right arm.

The Raven Zord's legs came off before the main body and head of the Raven Zord clipped onto the front of the Megazord's chestplate, forming a gentle u-shape with its wings. The legs attached to the Megazord's arms to form small wrist-bands/ gauntlets.

The Deer Zord split in half vertically before both halves slid out and the center rose out from between them, revealing a gladius hidden in there. The Deer Zord reattached at the waist, forming the bottom of an armored tunic resembling the one a Roman soldier would wear. The gladius went into the Megazord's left hand.

The Rangers met up in a single cockpit. Jay was in the front row in the center with Nate and Victor on his left and right respectively. Diana, Mera, Valerie and Adrian were sitting in that order in the back row.

"Pantheon Megazord, ready!" all seven Rangers announced.

"Let's summon a little more power," Jay said.

"Summoning Donkey Zord!" Mera said as she removed one of her Yellow Olympian Gems and replaced it with one of the Orange Olympian Gems.

The Donkey Zord ran up to meet the Pantheon Megazord.

"Donkey Zord, combine!" Jay ordered.

The Donkey Zord turned into its arm configuration and replaced the right arm (the arm the shield was on).

"Pantheon Megazord with Donkey Power!" the Rangers cried out as the Megazord posed.

"You think that those puny blades are going to cut me?" the Nemean Lion asked, "don't make me laugh!"

"He's got a point," Nate said, "what are these blades going to do?"

"This!" Jay shouted, "aim for one of his claws!"

The Megazord unfolded its wings from back and used them to hover forward at a great speed. With one snip of the Donkey Zord's ears, the Nemean Lion lost another one of it's claws.  
"Not again!" the Lion shouted as it gripped it's injured paw.

The Megazord swooped back around, the claw in it's normal left arm. It pulled back it's arm and jabbed it forward, stabbing the Lion in the chest with it's own claw.

"Let's force that claw in there!" Jay ordered, "begin final attack!"

The Megazord flew up into the air as it summoned it's gladius into its left hand. As the slowly setting sun's rays struck the Raven emblem on the Megazord's chest. The light collected on the emblem and fired it into the gladius, giving the sword a powerful glow.

"Light of the Olympians!" the Rangers shouted as the Megazord flew down and slashed the Lion in the chest, forcing the claw even deeper in.

"My skin was supposed to be unbreakable!" the Lion shouted as it fell to the ground and exploded.

"That's another monster down!" Jay said as the Megazord slowly powered down.

* * *

"How?" Hades shouted as he watched the blue fire projection of the Pantheon Megazord deal the finishing blow, "the Nemean Lion was supposed to be unbeatable!"

"My lord," Persephone said as she looked over at her husband, "Hercules was able to defeat the Nemean Lion, and the Rangers have proven more clever than him. Did you really not think this was a possibility?"

"Silence!" Hades shouted as the flames on his head intensified, "you are becoming dangerously close to spending a night in the dungeon instead of your chambers, my wife!"

"I apologize, my lord," Persephone said, "I just thought…"

"You thought wrong!" Hades shouted as his flames began to turn orange in his anger, "Gryphon! I need good news! Now!"

Gryphon appeared out of the shadows and kneeled before Hades.

"The troops are more bloodthirsty than any Spartoi created before, but we still need to create more to reach the ordered size," he said, "however, the ones we have will crush any who oppose them. Do we send them to fight the Rangers?"

"No," Hades said as he calmed down and the flames on his head returned to normal, "we stick to the plan."

"Besides," Hades said as he stood up from his throne, "why go after the servants when you can attack the masters? We have two weeks, then...we strike!"

* * *

"I am so glad that plan worked," Valerie said as the teens walked back into the Temple from the Doors of Janus, "I don't know what we would have done."

"If it weren't for Mera figuring out the Lion's weakness, I don't think we could have ever won," Adrian said.

"No, it was Victor who won us the battle today," Mera said as she clapped her hand on Victor's shoulder, "well done, my comrade."

"Just doing my part," Victor said, "after all, nobody on the team is useless."

"Couldn't have said it better myself!" Jay said, "Hands in, guys."

He put out his hand, palm down. Valerie walked over and put her hand on top of his. One by one, the other Rangers came over and added their hands to the pile.

"1...2...3! Power Rangers!" the teens cried as they lifted their hands into the air as one.

**Might be a bit '90s of an ending, but I wanted to show the Rangers really feel united as a team. I'm really excited to get working on the next chapter, as it's one of my favorite episode ideas, so it might come out at the end of this month or the beginning of the next month. Or, who knows, maybe I'll push it to the usual 15th of the month slot. The best way to find out when the next chapter's out is to follow this story. Well, until next time, may the power protect you.**


	19. Mirror, Mirror

**Sorry, this is a bit later than I meant to be, but it is out before my self-imposed deadline. I started out really excited for this episode, and then things (very slowly) began to die down and I finally finished. Besides that, my summer job got a little crazy with all the shifts and I just started watching Super Sentai as well. I've gotten through Jetman and Zyuranger, and I am currently watching Dairanger. For anyone who wants to watch the official subbed series, TubiTV has them for free, as long as you don't mind ads every 10 minutes or so.**

**Anyway, I want to thank JTWAS1994 for his continued support, and want to also thank GoldenMewtwo for reviewing every plot-driven chapter, and even a few filler ones. You should definitely check out his Poke Rangers: Kanto series. I just started reading it, and it's really good. **

**That's enough out of me. On with the story! **

**Power Rangers Olympian Force Chapter 19: Mirror, Mirror**

It had been about a week since the attack of the Nemean Lion, making it now the 19th of December, and the Holidays were right around the corner. Jay and Valerie walked down the busy streets. There was a large Christmas tree next to City Hall, and the department stores were overflowing with customers.

"Man, I guess everyone waited until the last two weeks to do their shopping," Jay commented as the two teens walked past another full department store.

"You already completed your shopping?" Valerie asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, I finished it a few days ago," Jay said as he and Valerie pushed past a few people just standing in the middle of the sidewalk.

"I know you didn't. That's why we're here, right?" he finished as he gestured to all the busy stores around him, "where are we headed, anyway?"  
"You'll see," Valerie said as they turned around the corner, "it should be right in front of us now."

"What do you me… whoa," Jay said as he stopped.

In front of the two was one of the largest buildings in the city, the Myers department store.

"You can't be serious," Jay said, "Myers is literally the biggest store in the city, and their stuff is super expensive!"

"That's why we'll be using my credit card," Valerie said as she grabbed Jay's hand and pulled him into the store.

"Alright, I need something for Victor and Nate and Diana and…" Valerie said as she went through the list in her head out loud for a few seconds, "and Mom and…"

She suddenly stopped.

"What?" Jay said, "and who?"

"And you," she said, "I still need a gift for you."

"OK, should we split up and meet up later? Say...half an hour?" Jay asked.

"Good plan, I'll see you in half an hour, bye!" Valerie said as she rushed to the escalator.

"I said I got all my shopping done," Jay said to himself, "but there's one gift I didn't get yet. Valerie's."

He looked around, "what do girls like? Jewelry?"

He walked over to the Jewelry section and saw the four digit price tags.

"Yeah, a bit outside my budget," he said as he felt around in his wallet and pulled out a few twenties.

"Clothes!" he said as he walked over to the women's clothing section, "but I don't know her size…"

"Uh...think, think, think," Jay said as he started to panic, "what about…"

He looked at the section across the way, the makeup section, and saw the perfect gift.

"How about a compact mirror!" he said as he rushed over and looked at the compact mirrors, "right in my budget, too!"

He grabbed a pink one and took it to the register. A few minutes later, the mirror was in a bag and hidden from Valerie's sight.

Jay walked back to the main lobby before looking up at the large clock on the wall.

"It's been half an hour," he said, "where is she?"

"Someone looking for me?" Valerie said as she walked down the escalator and over towards Jay. She had multiple bags in each hand and was struggling to lift them all.

"I might have gotten a little too much," she admitted as she dropped the bags in front of Jay so she could rest for a minute, "I see that you grabbed something. Last minute gift?"

"Yeah," Jay admitted, "now let me help you with some of these bags…"

He bent down to grab some before Valerie stopped him.

"I appreciate it, but it's the 21st century. I don't need a guy to carry all my stuff for me all the time," she said as she bent down and grabbed all of the bags again.

"You're the boss," Jay said as he backed away, "now then, let's get these to your house before we find out what breaks first: the handles or your back."

The two teens laughed as they headed out into the cold outdoors once again.

* * *

"The Red and Pink Rangers are separated from the others." Hades said to himself and Persephone, who was in her normal seat next to his, "I have two days until my big plan is set into motion, I must get rid of these Rangers so they can't interfere, and I'll start with those two."

"Perhaps you shouldn't focus on destroying the Rangers, and instead try just stopping them," Persephone offered, "you don't have to destroy something to stop it."

"More of your 'peaceful campaign' talk?" Hades said, "it makes me sick to hear such talk. Unless…"

"Unless what, my lord?" Persephone asked as she looked to her husband.

"Unless I use Medusa to turn the Rangers to stone!" Hades said, "unlike Midas' touch, Medusa's cursed gaze has no way to be reversed! Once frozen, the Rangers will be trapped forever!"  
He turned towards the wall in front of him and created a ball of fire from the brazier next to him before throwing it at the wall, creating a blue portal.

"Medusa, I summon you!" he shouted as a green snake woman slithered through the portal.

She had green skin and a tail instead of legs that somehow balanced on the ground and supported her weight. She wore an armored chest plate that looked like a bra and had on dark sunglasses over her eyes.

"Yessss master?" she hissed.

"I have a job for you," Hades said, "turn all seven Rangers to stone, and I will lift the curse that Athena placed on you."

"You can do that?" Medusa asked as she looked at Hades through her thick sunglasses.

"I can and I will," Hades replied, "just bring me all seven Rangers to me as statues."

"Assss you command," Medusa said as she turned around, and slithered through the portal now aimed at Earth.

* * *

"Only a few more blocks to my house," Valerie said as the two teens walked down the empty sidewalk, "once there, I can have James make us some hot chocolate or something."

"You won't be going anywhere, Rangerssss," a female voice hissed from behind them followed by the sound of sunglasses hitting the pavement.

Valerie dropped her bags and was about to turn around to face her when Jay grabbed her arm.

"Wait," he said, "look at the glass in front of us."  
She looked and saw the reflection of a green snake woman.

"So?" she asked.  
"I recognize her from the Monster Database," Jay explained, "that's Medusa. One look into her eyes and you get turned to stone!"

"So how do we fight her?" Valerie asked.

"We can only view her through reflective surfaces," Jay said, "luckily…"

He gestured to the glass buildings around them.

"...We happen to be on an empty street where there's glass everywhere. If we just see her through the glass, we won't turn to stone."

"Sounds like a plan!" Valerie agreed.

"It's morphing time!" Jay announced.

"Pink Olympian Power!" Valerie shouted as the gems on her wristbands glowed a bright pink.

"Red Olympian Power!" Jay shouted as the gems on his wristbands glowed a deep red.

In a flash of pink and red light, the Rangers were morphed.

"Love Bow!" Valerie shouted as the pink-bodied bow appeared in her open right hand.

"Lightning Sword!" Jay shouted as the red-hilted zig-zag blade appeared in his open right hand.

"Let's go!" Jay shouted as he raised his sword and Valerie aimed her bow behind her. Valerie let go of the bowstring and shot an energy arrow at Medusa. Unfortunately, her aim was very off.

"Damn!" she shouted as she prepared another energy arrow, "I can't shoot my bow backwards!"

"I'm going to go for it!" Jay shouted as he did a twisting backflip over Medusa, trying to slice off her head.

Medusa just ducked and the snakes from her hair fired the fangs from their mouths at the Red Ranger. Jay cried out as the fangs struck him and he hit the sidewalk hard.

"Man, that smarted," Jay commented as he got up, clutching his shoulder.

"You ok?" Valerie shouted across the street as she continued trying and failing to hit Medusa with her energy arrows.

"Yeah, but I think we need...look out!" Jay shouted as he saw the reflection of Medusa fire fangs out of her snake hair again.

Valerie cried out as sparks flew from her suit, but she remained standing. However, her guard was now down.

Medusa slithered over and wrapped her tail around Valerie while she was blasted, immobilizing her. She coiled around the Pink Ranger and looked into her eyes through her visor. Grey beams shot out of her eyes and flew into Valerie's eyes through her visor.

"Jay!" Valerie shouted before she quickly turned to stone. Medusa laughed as she removed herself from the statue that had been Valerie and started slithering up to Jay.

"You can't beat me, Red Ranger," she hissed, "and you can never get your Pink Ranger back!"

Jay growled from under his helmet and turned around with his eyes closed before slashing wildly with his Lightning Sword.

"You'll pay for that, you snake!" he shouted as he continued to slash.

"And now…" Medusa hissed as she prepared to coil around the closed-eyed Jay.

"Gemini Arrow...Fire!" two voices called out as a large gold and silver energy arrow struck Medusa in the stomach, blasting her back.

Adrian and Diana rushed up to Jay and pulled him up.

"You ok, Jay?" Adrian asked, "good thing we were close by."

Diana nodded, "otherwise, you would be screwed."

"Yeah, but you guys need to look away before she...Look out!" Jay shouted as he squeezed his eyes tightly shut.

Unfortunately, Adrian and Diana didn't heed Jay's warning in time and looked into Medusa's eyes. Grey beams fired out of her eyes and flew into their eyes through their visors. In an instant, they were turned to stone.

Medusa got up and saw the wound on her stomach.

"I'll get you for this, Red Ranger!" she shouted as a portal appeared and she slithered into it before it closed behind her.

Jay opened his eyes and looked at the three Ranger statues.

"No...guys…" Jay said as he fell to his knees and demorphed before speaking into his morpher, "Mera? Nate? Victor? I'm going to need some help getting the rest of the team to the base."

"What?" Nate asked through his morpher, "their legs broken or something?"

Jay didn't answer as he looked at his girlfriend's statue before running his hand over her stone helmet.

"I'll get you out of there," he vowed, "whatever it takes."

* * *

"So how do we fight her?" Jay asked as Mera typed away at the mosaic computer.

"Reflections appear to be the only way to view her without petrification," Mera answered, "Perseus defeated her with a reflective bronze shield."

"Petrifi-wha?" Nate asked.

Victor just shrugged.

"It means turning to stone," Jay said in a somewhat angry tone.

"They seem to be totally stone," Hermes said as he flew around the three Ranger statues, observing them, "not hollow, as I had hoped."

"That is my conclusion as well," Mera said as she stepped away from the computer and chipped off a small part of Adrian's stone helmet, "but I believe an analysis of the stone is in order."

"Man, Hephestus thought of everything when he built that computer," Nate commented as he stood off to the side, arms crossed, "think he's got a smoothie machine somewhere in there?"

"Knock it off," Jay snapped, "we don't have time for jokes. We need a way to reverse this, and fast."

Mera placed the sample in a small drawer and pushed it in. A digital replica of the stone appeared on the mosaic computer's screen.

"It appears to be a form of limestone," she said, "and it appeared that their entire chemical make-up is now changed into said material."

"Ok, so we know what it is," Jay said, "how do we reverse it?"

"Got a one-track mind, huh?" Nate commented.

"I want our friends back," Jay argued as he came up to stand right in front of Nate.

"I think you just want your girlfriend back and don't care about Adrian or Diana," Nate countered as he moved forward to stand directly face to face with Jay.

"You know that's not true!" Jay shouted.

There was silence for a moment as Jay's shout echoed throughout the Temple.

"Arguing is going to get us nowhere," Mera said as she stepped between the two, "as Valerie is not available right now, I suppose I must act as peacekeeper now. Right, Victor?"

Victor looked away from the mosaic computer quickly and looked at the group, "uh...right," he said.

"In my research," Mera said as she walked back to the computer, "There was no way to reverse Medusa's curse. I do have a theory, however. I believe that Gorgon blood could do it. With it, we could possibly get our friends back."

"Am I the only one whose going to ask?" Nate asked the group, "what the heck is a Gorgon? A type of cheese?"

"No, Nathaniel," Hermes said, "a Gorgon is the species Medusa and her sisters were cursed to become by Athena for ruining her temple with Poseidon. However, Medusa got the worst curse by also gaining the ability to turn others to stone but not getting any control over it."

"Well, we're trying to defeat Medusa," Jay said, "so we can't get the blood from her. Where are her sisters?"

"The only thing I know for certain is that they managed to escape both the gods and Hades," Hermes said, "so they're somewhere on Earth."

"Maybe we _do_ have a way to search for them," Mera said, "we just need a bit of DNA to search with…"

Jay's face lit up.

"I think I know where to get some," he said as he walked over to the displayed Red Ranger suit and pulled out one of the fangs that Medusa had fired at him from the snakes on her head, "would this work?"

"Perfectly," Mera said as she removed the limestone from the drawer and placed the fang inside, "it should only be a minute before…"

The computer made a chiming sound as Mera looked at the screen.

"I've got them located in a cave in Greece near Macedonia," Mera said as she looked towards the group.  
"Makes sense," Jay said, "they were hiding right under the gods' noses. I'll use the Doors of Janus and get there in an instant."

He started to walk towards the Doors before Nate stopped him.

"Whoa," he said, "what do you mean 'I'? We're a team. We don't need you going off on a quest by yourself. I'm at least coming with you."

Jay put his hand on Nate's shoulder.

"Look, I need Mera here in case Medusa attacks again," Jay said, "I also need Victor to build me a bronze shield, and I especially need you here to lead while I'm gone. You are second-in-command, after all."

"I do not like it," Mera said, "but he is right. It makes most sense for one of us to go, and the rest of us to prepare for Medusa."

Nate looked like he was about to argue more before he gave up.

"Fine," he said, "best of luck to you, fearless leader."

"I have a feeling I'm going to need it," Jay admitted before running through the open Doors of Janus.

* * *

Jay found himself on the beach. There was a house behind him that had served as his entrance into this strange new land.

"So this is Greece, huh?" Jay said as he looked around, "looks very peaceful."

He looked around and saw many other shore houses lined up. Overall, this part of the country looked fairly untouched by humans.

"I am detecting the cave north of your location," Mera said through Jay's morpher.

"Got it," Jay responded, "heading north now."

* * *

"What is the Red Ranger doing in Greece?" Hades asked, "this wasn't part of my plan!"

"Relax, my king," Persephone said, "there is nothing that can reverse Medusa's curse, remember? You have nothing to worry about."

"My sistersss are close to hisss location," Medusa hissed, "he could be going after them."

"Gorgon blood is one possible way to heal almost any wound or curse!" Hades said, "I thought there was no way to reverse Medusa's curse, but if there was, Gorgon blood would be the best way to try."

"If you are so worried, my lord," Persephone said, "send some Spartoi to stop him."

"We both know that Spartoi won't stop him," Hades said, "but if I can slow him down long enough to warn the other Gorgons...That might work. Gryphon!"

Gryphon appeared in his signature black smoke.

"Yes, master?" he said as he kneeled before Hades.

"Warn the Gorgons of the Red Ranger's arrival," Hades said, "but don't let him see you. I want your survival of the battle you had with the Rangers to be a surprise."

"As you command," Gryphon said as he stood up and vanished into his smoke again.

"Meanwhile, Medusa," Hades said as he created a portal out of blue fire, "you can still get the three other Rangers still in Olympia Hills. Your sisters will destroy the Red Ranger for you."

"Yesss," Medusa hissed as she slithered through the portal.

* * *

Jay wiped his brow as he stopped and looked at the caves placed throughout the mountainside.

"Hey Mera," he said into his morpher, "I've got something like a million caves here. Any chance you can point me in the right direction?"

"I sincerely doubt there are a million caves there, but I understand what you mean," Mera said, "unfortunately, I cannot pinpoint any closer. You are going to have to search each cave."

"Great…" Jay said before he looked up in surprise as a bunch of Spartoi flipped towards him, "and it just got even better."

Jay ran forward, crossing his arms over his chest as he did.

"Red Olympian Power!" he shouted as he morphed mid stride before flipping over some Spartoi and landing in the center of them.

"I don't have time for this! I need to save Valerie and the twins!" Jay said as he raised his right arm, "Lightning Sword!"

The Lightning Sword appeared in his hand and he set off to work on the Spartoi. He did a horizontal strike on one Spartoi before kicking it into a few more of them, sending them falling to the ground in a heap. He did an x-slash on another, before flipping in the air and kicking it in the chest to slam it into the mountain base behind it.

Jay looked around at his opponents.

'They must be trying to block me from reaching the Gorgons!' he thought as he punched the head off of another Spartoi, 'so they probably know where they are!'

Jay looked at the caves that the Spartoi were blocking and saw a shadow of a figure with wings on the wall of one of the cave entrances.

"Gryphon?" he asked as he marched towards the cave, slashing any Spartoi who got in his way. He quickly reached the cave, the Spartoi proving to only be a minor annoyance to the Ranger. Jay slashed the last one standing across the chest and continued into the cave as the last Spartoi fell.

He found two snake women just like Medusa, but one was a lighter green and one was a darker green, and both lacked the sunglasses she wore. He also saw Gryphon standing in front of them, his back to Jay.

"Gryphon, I thought we destroyed you!" Jay shouted as he took a ready stance.

"Hades ordered me to stay hidden and surprise you with his grand plan," Gryphon growled as he turned around and brandished his sword, "but I would rather destroy you now!"

"I need _someone _to take my anger out on!" Jay shouted back, "I guess you're as good a target as any!"

The two charged at each other and clashed with their swords. Jay forced Gryphon into a standstill clash, with neither fighter gaining or giving an inch as they pushed against each other, both trying to break through.

Jay quickly whirled around his leg in a sweeping leg attack, but Gryphon leapt over it before taking to the air and using his new leverage to force Jay back.

Jay leapt at the wall and kicked off of it, gaining height to reach Gryphon. Gryphon, surprised by the Ranger's new attack, landed back on the ground.

"You've improved, Red Ranger," Gryphon said, "but so have I!"

He raised his sword as it began to glow with a bronze-colored light.

"Gryphon's Fire!" he shouted as he quickly slashed an "X", creating two arcs of glowing bronze energy. He then stabbed through the middle, blasting a jet of bronze-colored fire at Jay from the glowing tip of his sword.

Jay cried out as he was blasted backwards by the flame, hit the wall and collapsed. There was a flash of red light as he demorphed.

"Nothing can stop me from destroying you now!" Gryphon shouted as the glowing "X" faded and he raised his sword above Jay's head.

"Leave now," the darker green Gorgon said.

"No one will be destroyed in our cave," the lighter green one said as both slithered over in between the two warriors.

Gryphon growled before summoning his signature black smoke behind him.

"Next time, Red Ranger," he said as he stepped back into the smoke and disappeared.

Jay groaned and felt the back of his head.

"That's going to leave a bruise," he said as he stood up before looking at the Gorgons, "you saved me. Why?"

"We have no love for Hades and his forces," the darker one said.

"However, we have no love for the Gods and their warriors either," the lighter one said.

"All we want is for our curse to be lifted, and us to be able to be reunited with our sister, Medusa," the darker one said.

"I am Stheno," the lighter green Gorgon said.

"And I am Euryale," the darker green Gorgon said, "now, what do you want with us?"

"I require your blood," Jay said, "I want to save my girlfriend and friends from your sister's curse."

"And what would you do once your friends are free?" Stheno asked, "destroy our sister?"

"Well…" Jay said as he trailed off, "she kind of decided to try and destroy me and my friends, the Olympian Rangers, so…"

"Can you find kindness in your heart to forgive her and try to save her instead of trying to destroy her?" Euryale asked.

"All she wants is to be free of her curse," Stheno said, "just like us. We never chose to be monsters. Athena thrusted that fate upon us. However, we have learned to forgive and be understanding instead of vengeful. Can you do the same?"

Jay stood there for a moment, pondering, before finally speaking.

"I guess I have to try," Jay said, "it _is_ the right thing to do."

"Then we will happily give you the blood you require," Euryale said as she slithered further into the cave, "how many doses do you need?"

Stheno quickly followed her sister, and Jay wasn't far behind.

"Three," he said as he joined the sisters at a small poorly-crafted table, "did you make this yourself?"

"We struggled with our new forms when we started 2000 years ago," Stheno said as she grabbed a vial from what appeared to be a sort of chemistry set, "we never could work tools right."

Euryale grabbed a poorly-crafted knife and pressed it into her right arm, "you don't need much of it for each person. Three drops ought to do it."

Stheno placed the vial under her sister's arm and caught the green blood dripping out before putting a cap on the vial and offered it out to Jay.

"These vials are from our attempts to turn ourselves human using human science instead of the gods' magic," she explained, "we had to steal these from empty human homes, unfortunately."

"Hey, you did what you had to do," Jay said as he accepted the vial and put it in his front right pocket , "I promise I'll do what I can to bring your sister home safe, and to turn all three of you human again."

"When you see our sister, tell her that she need not throw in her lot with Hades," Stheno said.

"She can always return home to us, and work on fixing our curse again," Euryale finished.

Jay waved as he stepped backwards before turning around and leaving the cave.

"This is Jay," he said into his morpher as he walked, "mission accomplished."

* * *

"Oof!" Nate grunted as he slammed into a bench, breaking it in half and causing both halves to tip over.

"Are you well?" Mera asked as she helped Nate stand up.

"Those fangs of hers have a nasty sting," Nate said as he brushed himself off, "but it's almost impossible to fight an enemy that we can't see."

He then spoke into his morpher.

"Hey, Vic? How's that shield coming?"  
"Almost done," Victor said into his morpher as he brought the hammer down on the bronze shield again in the Temple, slowly bending it into shape.

The Doors began to glow and then burst open, allowing Jay to run in with a vial in his hand.

"Hey, Hermes," Jay said as he handed the vial to Hermes, "the Gorgons said three drops should do it."

Hermes grabbed a dropper from the medical center and poured the Gorgon blood into it. He flew over to the Ranger statues and used the dropper to drop three drops onto the statues.

Quickly, the statues glowed green and shattered, leaving three very confused Rangers in their place.

"Who?" Adrian asked as he looked around.

"What?" Valerie asked as she did the same.

"Seriously?" Diana asked as she crossed her arms, "I was aware of what was going on the whole time."  
The three demorphed as Valerie ran over to hug Jay.

"You saved us!" she said as she gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Aw...Anyone would have done the same…" Jay said.

"No, you're the only one I would trust on such a mission," Diana said as she came over and patted him on the shoulder, "and I don't trust people easily."

"Good job, Jay," Adrian said, "now, I hate to break this up, but wasn't there a snake monster or something?"

"There is," Jay said, "and I need to handle her alone."

He put his morpher close to his mouth.

"Nate, Mera," Jay said, "I need you to keep Medusa contained until Victor finishes the shield. Then, I need to face her alone."

"I hope you know what you're doing," Nate said through the morpher, "Medusa is one tough customer."

"Victor," Jay said as he walked over to the teen, "how's that shield coming?"

Victor slammed it one more time with his hammer before putting the hammer down and flipping up his face shield.  
"Ready for battle," he said as he gave a thumbs up.

Jay looked at the shield for a moment.

"It looks sturdy," he said, "but doesn't seem very reflective."

"What if we used the Gorgon blood to 'heal' any impurities in the bronze?" Victor asked.

"Wow, that's...actually a good idea," Diana said, very surprised, as Jay grabbed the vial of Gorgon blood from Hermes and walked up to the shield. He pulled out the dropper and put a drop on the shield. In a flash of green light, the shield started to glow from the reflections of the light.

"I think it worked," Jay joked before becoming serious again, "now, it's time for me to deal with Medusa."

* * *

Mera and Nate rolled away from where they thought Medusa was. Medusa lashed out with her tail and slammed both of them in the back, sending them flying through the air.

A door on a nearby building glowed blue before bursting open and Jay stepped out.

"Red Olympian Power!" he shouted as he crossed his arms in front of his chest while running towards Medusa. In a flash of brilliant red light, he was morphed.

"Mirror Shield!" he shouted as the bronze shield appeared on his left arm. He turned around and looked at Medusa through the reflection on the shield.

"Nate, Mera," Jay said, "back off. The two of us need to chat."

"I'm sorry, we've been getting our asses handed to us and you want to _talk_?" Nate asked, very annoyed.

"I have to agree with Nathanial," Mera agreed, "Medusa does not appear to be the talking type."

"She'll talk to me," Jay said, "Stheno and Euryale sent me."

"You dare ssspeak my sssistersss namesss?" Medusa hissed, "what gives you that right?"

"They told me that you just want to be free of your curse, and you think that revenge and allying with Hades is the only way to do it," Jay said, "and I wanted revenge against you for turning my friends to stone, so I understand how you feel. But revenge is only going to hurt you in the end."

Medusa looked at the Red Ranger's visor, through the mirror shield.

"I sssense that you ssspeak the truth," she hissed, "but the godsss have cursed me to be a monster. Without them, I cannot go back to the way I wasss."

"We work with the gods," Jay said, "we can try and appeal to them. Maybe Athena will reverse your curse if you just apologize."

"Lies!" Hades' voice boomed next to Medusa as a floating ball of blue fire appeared out of a portal, with the voice originating from it, "the gods will never restore you or your sisters to your true forms! Only I will do it! Bring me the Rangers as statues and you will be able to look at beings again without turning them to stone!"

Medusa looked conflicted.

"I don't know…" she said, "I prayed to the godsss for forgivenesss a long time ago, and they ignored me… But my sssistersss ssseem to trust you..."

"Yes, they do," Jay said, "because I promised to try saving you instead of destroying you. Please, just surrender. We don't have to be enemies."

"You know what you have to do," Hades said through his fireball as it flickered out.

"If it meansss anything," Medusa said, "thisss isn't personal. I just want to be human again."

The snakes on her head opened their mouths and fired fangs at Jay, who rolled out of the way while keeping an eye on Medusa through the shield.

"Please...don't do this," he begged as he summoned his Lightning Sword into his right hand, "I just want to help you."

"You can," Medusa said, "by ssstaying ssstill!"

She fired off more fangs from her hair, but Jay raised the Mirror Shield and reflected it back at her. Medusa cried out as the fangs pierced her body, scratching it up in several places.

"I gave you a chance," Jay said as he raised his sword, "but you give me no choice. Lightning Sword! Lightning Slash!"

He raised his sword into the air, where red lightning struck it. The lightning sparked along the blade as Jay charged forward and slashed Medusa across the front with the glowing blade.

There was an explosion that blasted Jay back, with him landing helmet first into the grass.

He looked back and saw Medusa slowly slithering towards him. He continued to look at her as he stood up again.

'I hope this works…' he thought as he looked into Medusa's eyes. Grey beams shot out of Medusa's eyes but before they could hit Jay in his eyes behind his visor, Jay raised the Mirror Shield and reflected the beams back at Medusa. Medusa continued to fire the beams as Jay slowly pushed forward against them, putting the Mirror Shield between them and his eyes.

Quickly, Jay had gotten within sword range, and he slashed at Medusa's neck with his sword. There was a spray of green blood as Medusa's head separated from her body. The body fell over and exploded as Jay posed in front of it, Mirror Shield and Medusa's head in one hand and Lightning Sword in the other.

Jay quickly kneeled down, set down the head and lowered the eyelids, removing the danger of Medusa's gaze.

"I'm sorry I had to do this," Jay said as he looked at the severed head, still kneeling, "but you chose to attack me when I gave you a chance to surrender."

Nate and Mera ran up to Jay, still morphed.

"C'mon," Nate said, "don't feel too bad. We won, right?"

"But I promised the Gorgons I would try to save their sister," Jay said.

"And you did indeed try," Mera said, "some people are just beyond saving."

Jay nodded as he stood up, "I guess you're right. Let's head back to base."

The three Rangers walked to the glowing blue door and stepped back into the Temple before demorphing. Jay still held the head of Medusa in his left hand.

"Hey, Hermes," Jay said, "what the heck do we do with Medusa's head?"

Suddenly, a green light glowed from Medusa's head. Jay dropped it in surprise as the Rangers gathered around it.

A green-glowing humanoid appeared out of Medusa's head. It was a woman in a white dress. She smiled at the Rangers, who were all in fighting stances.

"Greetings, Rangers," she said, "you do not need to worry about me hurting you. I am simply a spirit now."

"Who are you?" Valerie asked as the Rangers relaxed their stances.

"I am Medusa," the green-glowing woman said, "this is my true form from before Athena cursed me."

"Why are you here?" Adrian asked.

"I have come to warn you," Medusa's spirit said, "I feel remorse for attacking you Rangers. Especially you, Red Ranger. You were merely trying to help me, and I chose to ignore it."

"It's ok. I forgive you," Jay said, "but what did you want to warn us about?"

"Hades has a major plan taking place on the Winter Solstice," Medusa said, "I saw it in the Underworld. He has tens of thousands of Spartoi waiting to attack."

"Where would this attack take place?" Mera asked.

"That I do not know," Medusa said as she began to fade away, "my time runs short. Beware the Winter Solstice, Rangers!"

With those words, Medusa's spirit was gone, and her monster head turned into green, glowing balls of light that flew up and through the ceiling, into the heavens.

"Well, that was strange," Nate commented as the Rangers broke up the circle they had formed around the head.

"Yeah," Jay said, "but it worries me what she said about the Winter Solstice. That's in two days."

He looked off at the Ranger suits lining the wall.

"We'll need to be ready," he finished grimly, "especially with Gryphon back."

* * *

"Medusa couldn't remove those god-empowered pests?" Hades shouted, "I gave her every chance to destroy the Rangers, and she blew it."

He looked over at Gryphon, who was sharpening his sword with a whetstone.

"And you," Hades said as he reached into his brazier and created a blue fireball before hurling it at Gryphon, "you ruined part of my final plan! The Rangers were not to know of your survival!"  
Gryphon deflected the fireball with his bronze sword. As it hit the wall next to him, he kneeled in front of Hades.

"I beg for your forgiveness," he said as he bowed his head.

"I ought to let someone else lead my assault," Hades said, "but I guess I _do_ need you, so I'll give you one more chance. My attack must go off without a hitch."

"And where are we attacking, my lord?" Gryphon asked.

"Yes, you have been very vague about it," Persephone agreed.

"I thought it would be obvious!" Hades snapped, "we are going to strike at the heart of my enemies. We will be assaulting Mt Olympus in two days' time!"

"Olympus?" Gryphon asked, very surprised, "are you mad? The gods can use all of their powers on Olympus!"

"Not on the Solstice," Hades explained, "the gods are weakened on the Winter Solstice and my powers are strengthened, making it the perfect time to strike!"

He began to laugh maniacally.

"And not even the Rangers can stop me this time!" he said in between fits of laughter.

Persephone looked at her husband, very concerned.

'Could this plan of his really work?' she thought, 'Can the Rangers really stop an army of that size?'

**Uh oh! Thanks for reading, and I'll see you guys next month for the epic conclusion to the first half of the series! I say "half", but I sometimes reorganize my episodes and episode count, so who knows if it's really half or more than half. May the power protect you!**


	20. The Solstice Siege

**Hey Ranger fans! I was so excited to get the mid-season finale out that I worked throughout the last 15 days to get it to you! **

**I want to, as always, thank JTWAS1994 and GoldenMewtwo for reviewing, and I also want to thank Kurama Yin-Yang for following and favoriting me and the story. I couldn't do this without the support of my fellow Ranger fans!**

**This chapter also marks 100,000 words for the story! I consider this an accomplishment, as my brother told me he only reads fanfictions of at least 100k words. I took that as a challenge, and here we are 20 chapters later, hitting that goal.**

**One last thing: I decided to create a poll to find out which Ranger is the favorite of my readers. It doesn't have anything to do with future plans, I'm just curious!**

**Anyway, that's enough out of me, on with the story!**

**Power Rangers Olympian Force Chapter 20: The Solstice Siege**

"Man, the Winter Solstice is tomorrow, and we have no idea what Hades plans to do with his army," Jay said as he paced. The other Rangers were standing around the Temple in a sort of semi-circle.

"Let's review what we know," Valerie suggested, "everyone?"

"We know Gryphon's back," Jay said, "and he's more powerful than ever. He beat me in our last battle."

"We know that Hades has a lot of Spartoi waiting to attack," Adrian said, "from the sound of it, we're talking at least thousands.".

"And we also are aware that he plans to attack on the Winter Solstice," Mera added.

"But what makes that date so specific?" Jay asked himself and the group.

"Perhaps I have an answer," Hermes said as he hovered over to the Rangers, "I believe he plans to attack Mt. Olympus tomorrow."

"What makes you think that?" Diana asked, "you just pick a place out of a hat or something?"

"Of course!" Mera said as she ran to the mosaic computer and started to type away on it. She pulled up a diagram with the gods' outlines on one side and Hades' on the other.

"I read about this in the database," she explained, "All of the gods, Hades included, share this special power. The Olympians have most of the power 361 days of the year…"

She pointed to the outline of the gods, which were 80% filled in with gold and Hades that was only 20% full but also blue instead of gold.

"But on the Solstices and Equinoxes, that power instead flows mostly to Hades instead, leaving the gods weakened on those days," she said as the golden coloring flowed from the gods to Hades and turned blue, now leaving Hades 80% full of blue coloring and the gods only 20% full of their original gold coloring. Mera turned around and looked at the team.

"That is why he wants to strike Olympus tomorrow," she finished.

"OK, so he's attacking Olympus," Jay said, "but what does he want? What does he really gain?"

"I think he's after the source of the gods' power," Hermes said as Mera moved and he began to type. Up on the screen appeared a golden flame in a silver brazier.

"That power that Mera speaks of comes from the Fire of the Gods," Hermes explained, "Hades has a portion of that power in the Underworld in a similar brazier. That's how he sends monsters to the surface world. However, I believe he wants to get the remaining 20% he can't have."

"And what, he'll throw a bunch of Spartoi at the gods and assume it'll work?" Nate ridiculed, "seriously?"

Jay smacked him on the shoulder, "I think you're forgetting that we're talking about thousands of Spartoi! We've dealt with about 30 at a time at most! And that's not even mentioning Gryphon, who somehow survived our battle with him and Chimera. He's even more powerful than before!"

"We need to warn the gods," Victor quietly suggested.

"Good idea, Victor," Jay said, "Hermes, can you pull up a call with the gods again?"

"Certainly," Hermes said as he began to type away again. An image of the gods appeared on the screen, with Zeus in the center, as usual.

"Rangers," Zeus said, "with you calling us now, I assume that Hermes has told you about the Solstice and how it weakens us."

"He has," Jay said.

"Then the day we have feared has arrived," Zeus said, "Rangers. Can we count on you to defend us in our time of need?"

Jay looked back at his team, who all nodded.

"Yes," Jay said as he looked back at the screen, "we're ready for when you need us. We have a half day at our school tomorrow because of the holiday. As long as Hades attacks after 12:15, we'll be there."

"So be it," Zeus replied, "Hermes will take you to Olympus after your… 'school'. We will see you soon, Rangers."

With that, the connection was ended and the computer went back to the display of the god outlines Mera had used in her explanation.

"Well, I guess there's nothing to do now but train," Jay said, "and then get a good night's sleep. We have a big battle after school tomorrow."

"You mean you actually plan on showing up to school?" Nate said, laughing.

"Yeah...why?" Jay asked, confused about his teammate's question.

"Dude, 50% of the school doesn't show up on half days," Nate explained.

"So?" Mera asked, "we need to be exemplary students as well as good Rangers. Do you think past teams of Rangers cut school?"

"Next you're going to tell me that they volunteered at a community center or something," Nate muttered.

"Anyway," Valerie said as she saw Mera begin to show signs of anger at being doubted, "why don't we take this energy we have for arguing and put it towards training?"

"Fine," Mera and Nate said together as they turned their backs to each other.

"We don't have time for this," Jay muttered as he pinched the bridge of his nose, "I'm getting a headache already…"

He looked up to see all of the other teens staring at him.

"Well?" Diana said impatiently, "are you going to tell us how to train today or not?"

"Let's start with some sparring," Jay suggested, "we need to be at peak fighting prowess tomorrow. Let's see...How about Valerie and Diana and…"

* * *

Jay yawned as he walked down the empty street. The sun had just risen, and not many people were out in the city yet.

"I don't get who thought it was a good idea for teenagers to wake up at around 6:30 for school," he said before yawning again.

Nate walked up beside him. He had a styrofoam coffee container in his hand and he casually took a sip of it as he tapped Jay on the shoulder.

"You good, dude?" he asked, "you look like you didn't sleep at all."

"I didn't really," Jay admitted, "I was up all night worrying about the battle today. Anxiety really sucks sometimes. I probably got about 2 hours of sleep."

"You should try coffee like me," Nate said before taking another sip, "it helps me wake up in the morning."

"Coffee isn't really good for us teenagers," Jay responded, "it's basically an addiction."

"Aw, what do you know?" Nate said as he brushed off Jay's comments.

The two walked in silence until they reached the hill outside the school building. Students were scattered along the grassy slope, talking to one another or being on their cell phones. Some were somehow doing both at the same time.

"Hey Nate," Valerie said before she looked at her exhausted boyfriend, "whoa! I know you texted me last night that you couldn't sleep, but I thought you would fall asleep eventually!"

"I did," Jay said, "at 4:00 am."

"The average teenage male requires 8-10 hours of sleep to properly function," Mera said as she walked up and joined the conversation, "though studies have found that teens usually do not meet those requirements."

"Yeah, that's fascinating and all," Nate said, "but are we really going to stay here? I have places I would much rather be before a big battle. We could hit McDonalds, for example, or…"

"Oh, good grief," Jay said as he pinched the bridge of his nose for the second day in a row, "didn't you go to Dunkin' to get that coffee? You really need food from another establishment?"

"I'm going to chalk up your crankiness to sleep-deprivation and move on," Nate said before the 5 minute bell rang. The four teens started walking into the building as they continued to talk.

"At least I have study hall third today," Jay said as he yawned again, "I mean, classes are 20 minutes, but still. That's 20 more minutes of sleep for me."

They stopped in front of Jay's classroom.

"We'll see you at lunch, ok?" Valerie said as she patted Jay on the shoulder before she led the rest of the group away.

"Don't fall asleep in math!" Nate said snarkily as he walked past.

Jay sighed, it was going to be a long, yet technically short, day.

* * *

_The Rangers stood in a line, facing down multiple lines of Spartoi. Gryphon was hovering in the air above the Spartoi, his bronze armor clashing with the blue sky._

"_Rangers!" he shouted, "you choose to defend the gods from Lord Hades?"_

_Jay looked around at his teammates, who nodded back at him._

"_We do!" Jay said as he raised his Lightning Sword over his head, "and we're going to take you down!"_

"_We'll see about that!" Gryphon shouted as he pointed his sword at the Rangers, "Spartoi, advance!"_

_The Spartoi advanced forward. Some swung their swords to attack, while others now had spears and bows to attack the Rangers with. _

_Quickly, Jay became separated from the other Rangers and became surrounded in rings of Spartoi. _

_Jay swung his sword in a circle around himself, forcing the Spartoi to back away._

"_Guys?!" he shouted over the Spartoi, "where are you?!"_

_He looked around at the Spartoi surrounding him._

"_I need to find the others. Lightning Refraction!"_

_He summoned a lightning bolt and pierced it with his sword, causing bolts of lightning to radiate from the sword and strike multiple foes._

"_Jay!" Valerie's voice shouted. _

"_Valerie!" Jay shouted back, "hold on, I'm coming!"_

_He hacked his way through the Spartoi, towards the sound of Valerie's voice. Finally, he had broken through the lines and found Nate, Victor, Diana, Adrian and Mera lying on the ground. They were demorphed and appeared very weak, with vicious cuts and scrapes all over their bodies and their clothes were all torn and cut. All of them had what looked like soon-to-be fatal wounds. _

_Jay looked over to see Valerie using her bow as a staff to hold Gryphon's sword back._

"_Jay, help me!" she shouted as she tried to force the sword back. _

_Jay started running towards them, but right as he was about to reach them, Valerie's bow snapped and the sword slashed along her body before Gryphon pulled the sword back and stabbed it through her stomach._

"_No!" Jay shouted as he reached Valerie and Gryphon at last. Gryphon backed away, admiring his work._

_Valerie demorphed. Jay held her in his arms as blood dripped from her wound. _

"_Why, Jay?" she asked, "why couldn't you save me in time?"_

"_Why didn't you save any of us?" Victor asked as he gasped for breath._

"_I said that I trusted you after all this time working together!" Diana weakly shouted, "and this is how you repay that trust?"_

"_I thought you could always lead us to victory," Mera said as she struggled to speak, "I never knew my calculations could be so wrong."_

"_You could have done more," Adrian said as he clutched his heart area, "we all knew it. We just never told you." _

"_Fearless leader," Nate said, "more like failing leader!" _

_He spit at Jay._

"_I knew this would happen eventually!" he shouted, "and you did too! You could have stopped this from happening!"_

"_You...could...have...saved...us," Valerie said before her head fell and her eyes lost focus._

"_No! No!" Jay shouted, "I'm sorry!"_

"_You did this, Red Ranger," Gryphon said as he walked over to Jay, who turned to face him, "and now you can join them!"_

_Time seemed to slow down as Gryphon brought his sword down on Jay…_

"_NOOOOOOO!" Jay cried out as the sword sliced through him._

"_Jay!" a voice called out, "Jay!"_

* * *

Jay's head shot up. He was hyperventilating and was covered in sweat. He saw that he was in Study Hall and the room was empty except for Valerie, who had been standing next to him trying to wake him.

"Jay? Are you alright?" she asked before Jay got up and pulled her into a hug.

"Valerie! You're ok!" he said, very relieved.

"Uh...yeah," Valerie said, "you were having a bad dream or something. You even missed the bell ringing. The group sent me to find you and tell you that you've missed the first 5 minutes of lunch already. I was also just worried about you. You're never late to anything."

Jay released Valerie from the hug and grabbed his backpack from the chair he had been sitting on before leaving the room, Valerie right beside him.

"I had the worst dream," he explained as the two teens started through the hall, "I dreamt that we failed, and all of us got killed."

He decided that adding the part of the others blaming him should be kept to himself.

"You know that's not going to happen, right?" Valerie said, "we may have lost, but never that badly."

"I know, but I can't help but worry about it. Anxiety, remember?" Jay said as they reached the stairs to the roof. As the two started up the stairs, they continued their conversation.

"Don't worry," Valerie said as she grabbed Jay's hand and gave it a squeeze, "we won't lose."

"We can't afford to," Jay agreed, "thanks, Val. I guess I need to stop worrying."

"It's ok to worry," Valerie said, "it's just important to not let that worry consume you and control your actions."

They reached the table and found the other teens there, waiting for them.

"There's our fearless leader!" Nate said as Jay sat down and pulled his lunch out of his bag, "what, you're not going to eat the school food?"

"I would prefer something more comforting today," Jay said as he pulled out a sandwich.

"Ew, what the hell is that?" Nate asked.

"Ham, Mayo and Pickles, why?" Jay asked as he took a big bite. Bits of pickles fell out of the sandwich and onto the table.

"Forget I asked," Nate said as he gagged.

"I assume we're meeting in the Temple after school, right?" Adrian asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah," Jay said as he put the sandwich down for a moment, "it makes the most sense to me, right?"

Everyone nodded or verbally agreed.

"Might as well relax while we can," Nate said as he stretched, "who knows how hairy the battle on Olympus is going to be?"

"One can only guess," Mera said, "I assume we will find out soon."

* * *

"My lord," Gryphon said as he kneeled before Hades, "the Spartoi are in their legions now, ready for your command."

"One moment," Hades said, his eyes closed in concentration, "this forbidden use of the Fire of the Gods takes a lot of preparation."

"My lord, is it not forbidden for a reason?" Persephone asked, clearly concerned.

Hades did not respond as blue flames shot out of the brazier by his throne and covered Hades in blue fire. Hades cried out in pain as the fire took his shape before flying forward. The Hades-shaped flames hovered in front of the God of the Dead for a moment before becoming an almost exact replica of Hades. The real Hades slumped back in his throne as the copy opened its eyes.

"This replica contains a portion of my awesome might!" the replica Hades roared, "while the real me stays safe in the Underworld, this copy will travel with my army to Olympus!"

"My lord," Gryphon said as he stood up, "I thought that _I _was leading your army."

"You are," the replica Hades said, "I will lead half of the troops one way, and you will lead them the other. We will circle Olympus and conquer it together!"

"As you command," Gryphon said as he and the replica Hades walked out of the palace and into the Asphodel Meadows. There were grey wispy spirits hovering around the field, forever wandering, but there were also lines upon lines of Spartoi. Unlike before, this Spartoi had black armored chest plates and helmets as well as some possessing weapons outside the norm, like spears and bows.

"My undead army!" the duplicate Hades shouted, "for too long the gods have possessed all of the power and stopped my conquest of the world of the living! But they shall stop me no longer! With you, I will storm Olympus and steal the Flame of the Gods for myself! And no gods or Rangers will stop me!"

The Spartoi saluted as the duplicate Hades' hands became full of blue fire. He threw the fire into the air before shaping it with his will into a large ring in front of him. The center of the ring began to glow and became a portal, showing glorious white marble buildings on the other side.

"Now..." the copy of Hades shouted, "we march!"

The Spartoi began their march forward, their feet stomping in rhythm, with the copy of Hades and Gryphon at the forefront.

"Don't forget our secondary goal," the replica Hades reminded, "if we can't get the Flame, we turn to Plan B."

"You never mentioned a 'Plan B'" Gryphon said.

The duplicate Hades whispered something into where one would assume Gryphon's ear was.

"Oh," Gryphon said as the replica Hades pulled back, "that is a good Plan B."

"Let us hope that Plan A works perfectly," Hades said, "let no Ranger or god stop you."

"Yes," Gryphon agreed, "let us destroy the Rangers!"

* * *

The Rangers were still eating lunch when their morphers went off.

"This is Jay," Jay said as he spoke into his morpher, "what's up, Hermes?"

"It's begun," Hermes said simply.

"We're on our way," Jay said as he gestured for the other teens to follow him.

The teens quickly rushed to the library and entered room "O". The walls fell away to reveal the temple with Hermes and a few unexpected guests for every teen but Jay.

"Dan," Jay said as he walked over and shook Dan's hand, "I'm glad you could make it."

"What, and miss defending the literal gods?" Dan said as he reciprocated the gesture, "wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Christina?" Adrian asked, "what are you doing here?"

"Jay called us both last night and told us of the battle today," Christina explained, "I may not endorse fighting, but I figured I could still help defend the gods, right?"

"I may have called them in," Jay said, "I figured we need all the Rangers we can get. Considering we don't have anyone bonded to Aqua and Orange Olympian Gems and the White and Crimson Gems are still missing, these are all the Rangers we're going to get today."

"I agree with your judgement," Mera said, "the more power we have on our side, the better off we will be."

"We need to go. Now," Hermes said as the Doors of Janus flew open, revealing Mt, Olympus on the other side. He led the teens through the Doors. As they started walking through the area, they gawked at all of the white marble buildings they were surrounded by. In the center of the area was a tall hill with large steps coming in from North, South, East and West leading to a large building lined with marble pillars.

"Welcome to Olympus," Hermes said, "as much as I would like to show you around, we need to hurry."

He began to fly up the hill at a faster speed, with the Rangers running up the steps to catch up. Quickly, the Rangers had reached the top of the hill and entered the temple. Inside the temple was a large brazier with a golden flame and 12 thrones built in a circle around it. On each throne was a god or goddess, except for one, which was Hermes' throne.

"Rangers," Zeus said, "there is not much time. We have Spartoi coming in from the North."

"And I see Gryphon with them," Hermes said as he used his hand to shield his eyes from the sun, "plus...no!"

"What?" Valerie asked, "what do you see?"

"Hades has done the forbidden Godly Cloning Technique!" Hermes exclaimed.

"Wait, so Hades has a clone of himself here, right now?" Jay asked, slightly panicked.

"It appears so," Hermes said, "Jay, you're in charge here, what do we do? The gods are weakened, so we cannot fight well. We can try and defend the flame, but it's mostly up to you and your team now."

"No pressure," Nate said as he patted Jay on the back.

Jay looked to Valerie, who grabbed his hand and squeezed it. He took a deep breath before looking at his team.

"It's nine of us against an army," he said, "and I know this won't be easy, but we can't afford to lose today. So let's get out there and give Hades and his troops the crushing defeat they deserve! Who's with me?"

"Me!" all of the teens yelled as they followed Jay down the northern steps. They stopped at a landing right in front of Hades and Gryphon who were backed by their Spartoi army.

"Ah, Rangers," Hades announced, "I was waiting for you to arrive. Do you have any last words before my army and I annihilate you?"

"Yeah, I have a few," Jay responded, "it's morphing time!"

The Rangers crossed their arms over their chests as the Olympian Gems on their bracelets began to glow.

"Green Olympian Power!"

"Purple Olympian Power!"

"Silver Olympian Power!"

"Gold Olympian Power!"

"Pink Olympian Power!"

"Yellow Olympian Power!"

"Black Olympian Power!"

"Blue Olympian Power!"

"Red Olympian Power!"

In a flash of multi-colored light, the Rangers stepped forward and began their role call.

"Demeter, goddess of the harvest! Green Olympian Ranger!"

"Dionysus, god of the vine! Purple Olympian Ranger!"

"Artemis, goddess of the hunt! Silver Olympian Ranger!"\

"Apollo, god of healing! Gold Olympian Ranger!"

"Aphrodite, goddess of love! Pink Olympian Ranger!"

"Athena, goddess of wisdom! Yellow Olympian Ranger!"

"Hephaestus, god of the forge! Black Olympian Ranger!"

"Poseidon, god of the sea! Blue Olympian Ranger!"

"Zeus, god of lightning! Red Olympian Ranger!"

"Using the powers of the past to protect the future! Power Rangers Olympian Force!"

Hades raised his arms and summoned a sword of blue fire. He pointed it at the Rangers.

"Attack!" he ordered.

Spartoi began to charge, their swords and spears raised in aggression. Arrows rained down from the sky as Spartoi further back aimed their bows into the air.

"Christina, head back and guard the flame, I know you hate fighting, so stay away from the action," Jay ordered, "the rest of you, pick a direction and start destroying Spartoi in that direction! Aim for their exposed limbs!"

All of the Rangers except Christina let out a battle cry as they charged. Christina, instead, headed back up the steps to protect the gods.

Jay summoned the Lightning Sword and flipped into the Spartoi formation, slashing down the Spartoi directly under him. He raised his sword and summoned a red lightning bolt, which he pierced with his sword.

"Lightning Refraction!" he cried as the red lightning bolt split where the sword struck it and came raining down on Spartoi. The armor actually conducted the lightning pretty well, and the Spartoi convulsed before falling to the ground in defeat.

Nate summoned his Ocean Trident and hurled it at a group of Spartoi, hitting them in their exposed legs, before charging at the group. He punched a Spartoi in the exposed face before grabbing his trident from the body of a downed Spartoi and stabbing the middle point into the new Spartoi's face before removing it as the new one fell as well.

"Who wants some?" he shouted as he raised his trident into the air. Water from the air gathered into the blades, causing them to glow blue before he lowered it and stabbed it in front of him.

"Ocean's Fury!" he shouted as water jets fired out of the tips of the points on his trident and blasted Spartoi back with the pressure.

Victor summoned the Blacksmith Hammer and slammed his hammer into a Spartoi, completely shattering the armor on it's torso.

"Interesting design," he commented, "but it appears to have a serious design flaw."

"Fire of the Forge!" he shouted as the head of his hammer got superheated. He swung it around himself horizontally and a ring of fire appeared around him. He slammed it vertically into the ring of flame and sparks blasted off and struck the Spartoi, causing their armor and even pieces of their bodies to melt.

Mera summoned her Battle Spear and stabbed the closest one in the exposed face before pulling it out and turning around to stab it through another's legs, knocking it to the ground.

"Critical Strike!" she shouted as her spearpoint started glowing yellow. She calculated the power required and the proper place to strike before stabbing through the armor of three Spartoi standing in a line, the spear piercing the armor like it wasn't even there.

Valerie summoned the Love Bow and leapt into the air, rapidly pulling back the bowstring and firing pink energy arrows. She landing in the middle of a group before using her bow as a melee weapon, smacking Spartoi upside the head with the sturdy body of her bow. She pointed her bow three inches from a Spartoi's face and pulled back the string before firing. The Spartoi's head exploded and the headless body collapsed to the ground.

"Arrow Rain!" she shouted as she aimed her bow into the air and fired a large pink energy arrow. The arrow reached the height of its arc before splitting into multiple smaller arrows that came raining down on Spartoi, knocking them to the ground.

Adrian summoned his Sun Staff and swung it around himself, forcing the Spartoi back. He stabbed with his staff in between a Spartoi's legs and swung up, bringing the Spartoi with it and causing it to fly through the air before falling into a group of them.

"Sun Orb!" he shouted as he raised his staff into the air and a golden orb appeared on the end, "fire!"

He swung the staff downwards. At the middle of his arc, the orb fired out and flew into a group of Spartoi. In a few seconds, the orb exploded in a mini "supernova" that blasted Spartoi away.

Diana summoned her Hunting Daggers and slashed through the neck of a Spartoi before flipping in the air and kicking the head into another Spartoi. Unlike previous battles, where it had knocked the Spartoi who had been hit down, the head just bounced off the armor.

"Huh," Diana said, "guess that armor is good for something after all. No matter, Double Swipe Slash!"

Her daggers glowed silver as she dashed past, slashing through the Spartoi's necks as she flew past before u-turning and slashing at the Spartoi's exposed legs. When she finally stopped back where she had started, the Spartoi split where she had slashed them.

Dan blocked a sword swipe with the sturdy body of his Thyrsus before using it to summon a grapevine that ripped the Spartoi apart. He smashed another with the pinecone on the top of his weapon. It didn't appear to have much effect, as the Spartoi just looked at him blankly.

"Thyrsus Vine Power!" Dan shouted as he raised his Thyrsus in the air and the pinecone on top glowed a deep purple. The pavement cracked as great, powerful grape vines rose from the ground and smashed and wrapped around multiple Spartoi, destroying them easily.

Nate saw this and then looked at Jay, confused.

"Why do we keep him on the sidelines so often again?" he asked as he stabbed through a Spartoi's neck.

"Less talking…" Jay grunted as he slashed off a Spartoi's arm before kicking it away, "more fighting!"

Hades gestured to Gryphon to go around and attack the western entrance before summoning blue fire and throwing a ball of it at the Red Ranger.

Jay cried out as the ball hit him in the chest and sent him flying back towards the steps the Rangers had started on. The other Rangers regrouped around him, with most of them deflecting Spartoi attacks with their weapons as Valerie helped Jay stand up.

"You good?" she asked as she pulled Jay to his feet.

"I'll live," Jay grunted as he held his arm where he had fallen on it, "but Hades seems just as powerful as I feared. There's also waaay too many Spartoi for us to deal with individually."

"Does anyone see Gryphon?" Adrian asked.

"One thing at a time," Jay said, "let's deal with Hades first, then we can worry about Gryphon."

"Rangers," Hades said, "come and face me, if you dare."

The Spartoi backed off, creating a semi-circle behind the duplicate Hades, allowing the Rangers to face him directly.

"Oh, we dare," Nate said as he pointed his Trident at the evil god, "Mera, you with me?"

"Affirmative," Mera agreed as she and Nate pulled back their arms and hurled their weapons at the blue-flamed fiend.

Hades raised his hand as blue fire filled the air around him and flew out to wrap around the weapons flying at him. With a wave of his hand, the blue flames flipped around the weapons and sent them flying back at the Rangers at a greater speed.

"Mirror Shield!" Jay shouted as he summoned the shield and leapt into the air, using it to deflect the flying weapons to the ground. He flipped in the air and landed in front of Hades, Lightning Sword in one hand and Mirror Shield in the other.

The evil god summoned more blue fire and blasted a concentrated stream of it at the Red Ranger, who raised the Mirror Shield to deflect it. The Mirror Shield only deflected part of the large flame, the rest hitting Jay in the feet, helmet and any other exposed part of him. Jay cried out as he flew back again.

Victor and Diana charged at the blue-flamed fiend, while Nate and Mera grabbed their weapons off the ground and joined them. Adrian and Valerie pulled back their bowstrings and fired off a barrage of arrows at their foe. Dan summoned more vines to attack

Hades summoned more blue fire and shaped it with his will. He formed a flame screen to deflect the arrows into the ground and to stop the grapevines from reaching him, and fired balls of blue fire at the charging Rangers, blasting them back.

The Rangers regrouped around their fallen leader, who slowly pulled himself up to a standing position again.

"Ok, I'm open to suggestions," Jay said as he looked around at his team.

"We have to try the Eight Ranger Omega Strike!" Nate suggested.

"It takes a lot of energy, but it's the best shot we have," Victor agreed, "the weapons shouldn't be too damaged to do it."

"Let's do it!" Jay ordered. The Rangers nodded and threw their weapons into the air.

Nate's Ocean Trident bent 90 degrees as the "teeth" spread out and bent to form a handle. Victor's Blacksmith Hammer landed on the ground handle side up as Valerie's Love Bow clicked onto the former trident, which then clicked onto the hammer handle. Mera's Battle Spear was bent around the bowstring to make it thicker. Adrian's Sun Staff helped the hammer hold up the crossbow, and Diana's Hunting Daggers went on either side of Jay's Lightning Sword as both were loaded into the crossbow.

"Eight Ranger Omega Strike!" Jay shouted as the Rangers lined up diagonally on either side of Jay. Nate and Victor put their hands on Jay's shoulders, then Mera and Valerie put their hands on their's respectivly. Then Diana put her hand on Victor's shoulder and Adrian put his on Valerie's before Dan joined in, holding onto Adrian's shoulder.

The Sword and Daggers began to glow with a golden energy created by combining all of the Rangers' power as Jay put his finger on the trigger.

"Fire!" he shouted as he pulled the trigger. The Lightning Sword and Hunting Daggers flew at Hades.

Hades looked unconcerned, and summoned more blue fire before creating a screen out of it that the Sword and Daggers slammed into. Hades began to struggle as the Sword and Daggers continued pushing against his flame screen.

"I refuse to be beaten so easily!" Hades said as he used the flames in his hands to propel him like a rocket over the weapons, "now what else would you like to try?"

Jay and Diana put out their hands and their weapons reappeared in them, while the other Rangers separated the Crossbow and gained their weapons back.

"I'm out of ideas," Nate said.

"We have used everything in our arsenal," Mera agreed, "I am unsure of what more we can do."

Hades grinned as he watched the Rangers struggle.

"I will tell you what you can do," Hades said, "burn."

He summoned more blue fire and blasted a stream of it at the Rangers, blasting them off their feet and causing them all to demorph as they fell to the ground. They were covered in soot, and their clothes were torn in multiple places. Just like, as Jay realized, they had been in his dream.

'But this is so much worse!' he thought, 'I never thought we would be facing Hades himself!'

"You thought you could beat me?" Hades asked as he stepped forward, getting closer to the Rangers, "you really thought you had the strength and skill?"

He kicked Jay over, who groaned as he was rolled over.

"You, Red Ranger, have been the biggest thorn in my side during this campaign," Hades said as he used his flames to lift Jay into the air by wrapping it around his wrists, "so you will be the first to fall!"

"Come on," Nate said as he tried to get up again, only to find that he couldn't, "we have to help him!"

"No…" Victor said as he reached out.

"Jay!" Valerie shouted as she struggled to rise.

Adrian grunted as he rolled over, "hold on, Jay."

"You'll pay for this, you pale faced bastard!" Diana threatened as she too tried to get up and failed.

Dan just laid there, knocked out completely.

"Do your worst," Jay said as he floated in mid-air. He figured that acting confident was the best he could do. He wasn't going to let on how much pain he was in, but the fire touching his wrists was excruciatingly hot and seemed to be blistering his skin, "nothing you can do can be worse than the pain of failing my team."

"How noble," Hades sneered, "and how foolish."

The flames started to travel down Jay's arms, creating burn marks and blisters wherever they touched him. Jay cried out as the flames continued down his arms.

"Jay!" the other Rangers cried out together as they once again tried to rise, only to fail again.

"I could have so much fun destroying each of you in a special way…" Hades said, "but I think the most fun will be leaving you alive with the knowledge that you failed."

He released the flames around Jay, causing him to grunt as he hit the ground.

"Goodbye, Rangers," Hades said, "you pose no threat to me now. It's the Flame I'm after."

He started up the steps, with the Spartoi right behind him. He reached the top of the stair and found the gods and goddesses locked in battle with the Spartoi, with Zeus himself fighting Gryphon. He smashed his staff against Gryphon, cracking his helmet where his left eye would be and sending him falling to the ground.

"You thought you could outsmart us, brother?" Zeus said as he turned from Gryphon and raised his lightning bolt designed staff, "you really thought we weren't ready for your minions? You thought us so weakened that we couldn't fight at all"

"I knew you would be ready for my minions and I knew you could fight" Hades said, "but I also knew you wouldn't be ready for me."

He raised his hands and blasted streams of blue fire out of them. Zeus transformed into a more regal-looking version of the Red Ranger. This version had a more reflective gold trim, as well as a cape and a golden chestplate over his normal suit with Medusa's head on it. The armor protected him from the blue flames.

"Ah, your famous Aegis," Hades commented, "it may protect you now, but it won't for long."

Hades increased the heat and ferocity of his flames, but Zeus raised his staff and twirled it in front of him, creating an air cushion in between him and the flames.

"I should have known you would keep enough power for yourself to be able to create a Ranger form," Hades said, "do the other gods know? Or did you keep that hidden from them, just like you hid the details of our little game thousands of years ago that gave me control over a land of death and you control over a land of life?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Zeus said as he raised his staff and red lightning struck it.

"You cheated and I know it!" Hades roared as the flames on the top of his head turned red and blasted upwards, becoming a mini-pillar of fire.

Zeus pointed his staff at him and blasted the red lightning right at him. Hades walked through it like it was nothing and punched Zeus in the helmet with a fist of red flame (matching Hades' head) causing the helmet to completely shatter. Hades blasted the stunned Zeus back with red fire and walked over to the brazier where the Flame of the Gods had been.

"And all this resistance was for nothing," Hades said, "I win!"

He looked down into the brazier and found it was…

"Empty?!" he shouted. He whirled around and marched over to the weakened Zeus, holding him up by the neck with red flames.

"Where is it?" he demanded.

Zeus just spit in his face and turned to look at Hermes.

"Hermes!" he shouted, "tell the Rangers to leave now! It's too dangerous for them!"

Hermes flew away from his battle with the Spartoi, smacking Spartoi with his caduceus as he flew past.

"Yes, boss!" he said as he flew down the steps and reached the Rangers, who were still on the ground.

"Rangers, you have to get up and go!" he shouted.

The Rangers finally stood up, with Victor carrying Dan over his shoulder.

"We can't just leave!" Jay protested as he held one of his arms, wincing in pain, "we may be weak, but we have to fight."

"Jay," Hermes said as he put his hand on Jay's shoulder, "this battle is lost. But the flame is safe. Find Christina back at the Temple, she knows where it is."

He looked back as explosions rocked the building in the center.

"The gods can't hold Hades much longer," he said, "I know I haven't been the best mentor, no matter how hard I tried, but I can leave you with one piece of advice. Find Chiron."

"Who?" Nate asked.

"There's no time," Hermes said, "look it up on the computer, it should give you a clue where he is. Now go!"

The Rangers stumbled back to where the Doors had been before, and found them still open, leading to the Temple.

"Come on!" Jay said as he led the "charge" through the doors. As soon as the last Ranger, Victor, who was still carrying Dan, ran through, they slammed shut. The Rangers panted as they caught their breath, which was hard to do, considering the damage that had been dealt to them. They looked up to find Christina standing in front of a familiar flame lit in a brazier in the corner.

"Christina?" Adrian asked, "why is the Flame of the Gods here?"

"It's a long story," Christina said, "it started back when the battle started…"

_Flashback:_

"I went back up the steps like you ordered, Jay," Christina narrated as we see her, still morphed, running up the steps.

"I was unsure exactly how to help, especially with an army that large, combined with the fact that I hate to fight," Christina continued, "I reached the gods and they had a plan."

Christina stepped into the room. The gods were sitting in their thrones again, Hermes included. They appeared to have been in deep conversation. Christina hid behind the wall by the doorway.

"And I say that we trust the Rangers with the Flame!" Hermes argued.

"Aw, you just have a soft spot for them because you've spent so much time with them," Ares, a large man with an axe strapped to his back, argued back, "besides, I still think we can take this army of Hades' minions."

"Enough!" Zeus shouted as he stood up, "this is getting us nowhere. Let us put it to a vote, all in favor of giving it to the Rangers?"

All of the gods except Ares put up their hands.

"It's decided, then," Zeus said as he turned towards where Christina, "you can come out now, Green Ranger."

"You...you knew I was there?" Christina asked.

"There isn't much that goes on on this mountain that I don't know about," Zeus said, "just as I saw you, I also see Gryphon leading more Spartoi to one of the unguarded entrances to this building. There is not much time. Come over here, towards the Flame."

"But surely one of the other Rangers would be better qualified…" Christina protested, "I've only been a Ranger a short while and…"

"Come here, Green Ranger," Zeus commanded.

"Yes sir," Christina squeaked as she walked over.

Zeus put out his hand and summoned a torch. He drew all of the fire out of the brazier and contained it on the torch.

"Just as there is a torch bearer in the Olympics, there will be one in the Olympian Rangers," Zeus said, "you are that torch bearer. You must take this torch and leave Olympus immediately, in order to keep the remainder of the Flame out of Hades' hands."

Christina nodded as she accepted the torch.

"Christina," Hermes said as he snapped his fingers, "there is now a brazier identical to this one in the Temple, you must take it there. Now go!"

Christina turned towards the steps she came from (the northern steps) before correcting herself and walking down the eastern steps instead, the opposite direction to the one Gryphon was coming from.

_End Flashback_

"So I took the torch and used the Doors to get back to the Temple," Christina finished, "you guys don't look too good, though. What happened?"

"Hades happened," Nate commented as he clutched his side, "he clobbered us."

"We'll heal," Jay said, "it's Olympus and the gods I'm worried about. Were they able to win?"

Mera limped over to the mosaic computer and pulled up a live display of Olympus. The Rangers gasped as they looked at the remnants of blue fire and the destruction Hades and his Spartoi had left in their wake.

Valerie clapped her hands over her mouth in shock while Diana growled and Victor looked away, wincing. The rest of the Rangers were stuck in place, just staring at the screen in shock.

"Oh god," Jay said, "what did Hades just do? Did we just...lose?"

* * *

The real Hades opened his eyes on his throne.

"It is done," he said simply as a portal opened in front of him. Gryphon stepped out, still very damaged from the battle. His helmet had a crack in it over the left eye, and Peresphone thought she saw a human eye in there, but he was too far in the shadows to tell for sure.

"My lord," he said as he kneeled in the shadows near Hades, "your duplicate was devastating against Olympus. All of the gods fell to you or your army."

"Yes, I am aware," Hades said, "I was in control of my duplicate the whole time. That duplicate had but a fraction of my power, and it still defeated the Rangers soundly."

"But the Flame was missing?" Persephone asked, "I don't see it with you."

"The gods tricked me," Hades admitted, "and I'll find out soon enough where they hid it."

He snapped his fingers and the Spartoi led Zeus, locked in chains, out of the portal and forced him to kneel in front of Hades.

"Brother," Hades said, "I am giving you one chance. Tell me where the rest of the Flame is."

"It's safe and out of your hands, that's all that matters," Zeus said as he looked at the floor.

"I'll make you or one of the other gods talk," Hades said, "I captured all of them anyway. I even caught your so-called "minor gods." One of them will tell me eventually. And when I find out, whoever has it will face my wrath! Take him to the dungeons with the others!"

'Fight well, Rangers...' Zeus thought as he kept his head down while he passed the cells now full of his fellow gods.

The Spartoi leading him along pushed him into the cell and slammed the door shut.

'...find Chiron, and fare better than we did.' he finished as he looked at the line of cells alongside his.

**I know it was a lot for one chapter, but this is actually slightly shorter than my first chapter. Anyway, you know the drill. See you (hopefully) on the 15th. May the power protect you.**


End file.
